


Oddity a Rarity

by kakkoweeb



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Attempted Murder, Blood, M/M, Mentions of Murder, Oikage Big Bang 2017, Other, Unreliable Narrator, Violence, it's not exactly graphically depicted tho so, just be warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-08 15:10:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 50,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12867216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakkoweeb/pseuds/kakkoweeb
Summary: Murder is a sport. But Oikawa and Kageyama certainly aren't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i see you've clicked on this fic. well. welcome. this is my entry for the oikage big bang. as you can see on the fic info, it's gonna be four chapters, but only the first one's going up during posting week (december 1st to 7th) so that readers can focus on the new entries per day. if you'd like to suggest a posting schedule for the rest of the fic (because i'm honestly lost), please do so in the comments!
> 
> **ALSO** check out the accompanying draws by the lovely [hetaliabunnyart!](http://hetaliabunnyart.tumblr.com/post/168082986588/oddity-a-rarity-by-kakkoweeb)!! it's based off this fic but i feel like it's too good for it ahhhh

The sound of tearing flesh and the crack of bones reverberated, echoed in Tooru’s ears and mind because he wanted them to, as he repeatedly thrust his knife—in and out, in and out, of his bag of Doritos. It was all he could do not go batshit crazy; he didn’t think he’d gone this long without dueling anyone since he was eleven. Dueling was his passion, his _life_ , but more importantly his profession so without money _or_ a sense of purpose, what the hell was he supposed to do?

It had been this way for a few days now, unfortunately, and up till now he couldn’t decide whether it was better to laugh at himself or shut himself up in his room under the covers. He could already see the headlines once word got out: Oikawa Tooru, Rank 3 Slayer, on Kill Ban. Or better yet: You Would Not _Believe_ Why This Top Slayer Can’t Kill Anyone for Two Weeks. He couldn’t decide which article he’d click on either, but they would probably both be poorly-written anyway, so it hardly mattered.

To be honest, even he couldn’t quite believe why he couldn’t slay anyone for two weeks. The verdict had been settled in court and everything, but days after and it still felt utterly unjust. Obviously, when a 170-centimeter girl ambushed him on the streets and nearly sliced his head off, he wouldn’t have the time to check how old she was. He would have to fight to defend himself. And if it turned out that she was actually under eighteen, not allowed to combat actual Slayers yet, then that wasn’t supposed to be his problem.

Unfortunately, her mother was also good friends with a lawyer. Now, he could only spend his time like this. Rotting. Taking his frustrations out on a bag of cheesy tortilla chips just because he could.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Sure, he was out alone and unable to join the rest of his alliance while they told stories about their recent fights, but a day-off from that nasty band of hooligans—Iwaizumi and his teasing, Mad Dog and his temper, among everything else—was pretty good too. They could be an excellent support network when Tooru badly needed it, as alliances were supposed to be, but even if they couldn’t physically kill him some days he felt they still would, through their antics among other things. Given that, this solitary bench in the middle of these woods, dripping with tranquility and keeping still under the blowing wind, was already starting to feel like home.

At least, until a gunshot rang out.

Tooru himself wasn’t sure how he’d avoided it, but perhaps the loud noise ripping through his air of peace managed to shake his form a good centimeter, just right, enough for him to clearly the see the bullet rushing past his eyes and lodging into a nearby tree. A clean shot to the brain, it would’ve been. Under other circumstances, Tooru would’ve been impressed.

But all he could be right now was alarmed. “What—” he said aloud, barely managing to stop himself falling off his bench and not much else before a figure was emerging from the shadows, one clad in blue and weaponry, it seemed, but that was all Tooru was able to note in the split second that he wasn’t getting thoroughly pounced on.

He rolled off his seat right as his attacker pocketed the gun and occupied their hand with a kris knife instead, launched himself backward right as he landed on his heels to avoid the firm and precise thrust aimed for his head. The stranger had a mask, dark and ugly-looking, but clearly it had no effect on their eyesight because each swing of their weapon was one added near-death experience to Tooru’s collection.

“Shit,” Tooru hissed, narrowly-avoiding a particularly quick jab from the attacker and at last remembering to reach for his own knife, expert at laying waste to Doritos and not much else today. “You’re not a minor, are you?”

The stranger only grunted, and Tooru swore to god, if this was another minor he was going to find a lawyer himself and sue whatever training institution they were coming from _and_ whatever company sold them those masks because he was _not_ getting another two weeks to add to his sentence, oh no.

Finding his place next to a relatively large tree, Tooru stood on guard and took the chance to study his current opponent. They were about his height, built like a man but what did it matter at this point, and even just standing there gauging Tooru’s movements, there was something about them that called out, reeled Tooru in despite how easily he could run down the path he’d come down and never look back. The way they held their weapon was intriguing, familiar, the contrast of their caution and boldness interesting.

But more than that, and more than to stay alive, Tooru _really_ wanted to rip that stupid mask off their face.

And as if to challenge that, the stranger lunged.

Duels with random people like this, anonymous and unpleasant, were commonplace to those with Tooru’s rank, with his experience; just one hopeful Slayer after another hoping to get a good kill in order to rise up the skill ladder. They were never much of anything and the outcome was always one of two things: the hopeful either realized they were heavily outmatched early into the fight, or only when they were already on the ground unable to stand.

This hopeful, however, was a little more _hopeful_ than the rest, maybe even a tad more skilled. They took brave and consecutive swings, undeterred even when Tooru had successfully blocked every hit off and wrestled them away, threw them against a tree and smashed a fist into their temple. They took the hit, certainly, but kicked Tooru in the gut straight after, ran at him and locked his neck in a strangling hold with a single arm and flipped them both over, slamming Tooru into the ground. An elbow to the rib was all Tooru could respond with, and though it got the job done, his opponent wasn’t far behind, already on Tooru in a flash and for a while he could only backpedal to keep from getting maimed.

Their movements were quick, so quick that if Tooru didn’t stare hard enough or blink fast enough they were like blurs even to his trained eyes. Every strike and kick and jump was smooth, calculated and yet executed without hesitation. Their transitions were near-flawless, recovering from Tooru’s counterattacks rapidly and effortlessly and seeming to come back even tougher, harder than before.

It left Tooru exhilarated, breathless. He’d never had a duel like this before, not even when he practiced with the members of his alliance.

But he wasn’t ranked as high as he was for nothing. Tooru kept a watchful eye over the pattern of the stranger’s attacks, the habits they probably didn’t even notice they had, used only the openings he knew would matter. They were observant, definitely, but a little too observant with a hint of impulsive. Tooru jogged back from an attack and pretended to stumble over his own feet, waited for them to use this to their advantage, and jumped—as soon as he could, as high as his opponent’s chest went—let his boot crash against the stranger’s hidden jaw.

They fell at last, but Tooru kept his complacency locked in a place where it would have no control over itself, did the same to his assailant. He kept them thoroughly pinned down, knocked the knife out of their hand, and (a little triumphantly) freed one of his own hands to drag off their leering face of a mask and finally get a good, long look at this bastard hopeful’s face.

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but the combination of dark hair and blue eyes that stared back up at him as he stared down sent a chill running down his spine, memories of far too long ago fleeting across the surface of his mind, knocking his wind out of him and leaving his heart palpitating far more than the exertion from a fight ever could, left him almost recoiling in shock.

“ _Tobio-chan?”_ he cried.

From beneath his hold, he could still feel Tobio—once his training academy junior and constant headache, now apparently his attempted murderer—flailing uselessly in search of freedom. It was bizarre to see his face so close and not behind the glass of the television after so long, but also comforting to know it hadn’t changed much from the one Tooru had been familiar with, unfriendly yet charming (wait, no) features and all.

The irritating persistence also seemed to stay, but apparently it had learned to find a limit. His entire body went slack, his head lolling to the ground, his eyes shut in what appeared to be a mix of embarrassment and exasperation.

“Good afternoon, Oikawa-san,” he said, resignedly.

If there was anyone with the right to feel exasperated, though, it was Tooru. He took a deep breath, both for a little more of his usual bravery and to slow his heart. “Good afternoon, my ass!” he said, glowering, pressing more of his weight against this scum of the earth, this burden of the past, this constant cry of _please teach me the basics of the Uchi Mata!_ “You try to kill me and that’s all you have to say? Good afternoon?”

“Well—”

“ _It’s not a good afternoon!”_ he yelled, cut in, hardly able to enjoy the look of a wince on Tobio’s features. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you just interrupted my very productive day off and attacked me while wearing _that_ ugly thing; what the hell even is that? And where’s your honour? Attacking me while I’m on Kill Ban. How could anyone stoop so low? I guess you’re just _that_ afraid of me, huh?”

Far too busy pulling irate faces, he hadn’t noticed Tobio’s going sombre. “Yes,” he said. “I am.”

Tooru blinked down at him.

“Oh, and you’re open.”

Like the weight of all his mistakes had kept him frozen, Tooru didn’t quite register anything until his back was colliding with solid ground, Tobio reversing their positions and somehow already clutching a blade. He quickly brought it down on Tooru’s face, and without any more time to lose, Tooru urgently moved his head aside, used an arm that had been miraculously left unconfined to swipe at Tobio’s eyes.

Tobio hissed, screwed his eyes shut, and knowing full well that the reaction could only last so long, Tooru flipped him over with his legs and quickly got back on his feet. Tobio’s face was pained as he was thrown aside, but he recklessly charged forward anyway, and for a brief moment, Tooru was under the impression that the bright-eyed kid with the big dreams hadn’t changed at all.

_(“Oikawa-san, spar with me!”)_

But no matter how thoughtless, how purely-bravado most of his advances seemed to be, Tooru always—always—found himself struggling, losing his highly-practiced composure and running on adrenaline to stay one step ahead like he effortlessly could with anyone else.

_(“Only if you give me half your afternoon snack later on!”)_

He was the same, a boy filled to the brim with genius that anyone could easily mistake for pure luck, but in many ways, just as different. His recklessness was refined, his thoughtlessness prepense and well-conceived. He knew what he was doing and knew that it would work, that Tooru would stumble as much as he was now with a desperation to keep his life, heart pounding but without the shortness of breath, trapped by Tobio’s crushing grip even as he gripped his weapon as tight as he could.

_(“Oikawa-san, you’re amazing!”)_

_(“What are you talking about? You nearly won!”)_

_(“Yeah, but you did that move I’ve never seen before. What’s it called? Can you teach it to me?”)_

Tooru wondered if he also knew about the fear, and the warming of skin, and the racing of mind and heart whenever he was so much as in the same room.

_(“Please teach me the basics of the Throw of Kings!”)_

It wouldn’t matter either way, because by the time that Tobio was heaving Tooru onto his back and pulling, Tooru was paralyzed for a reason he couldn’t place even if he tried, getting lifted off of his feet by a single leg between his thighs and flipped over Tobio’s body and once again, hitting the ground. Breathing hard, his first instinct was to try and scramble away, never mind how undignified it was to be slithering and tracking mud all over his newly-washed gear, but Tobio was too good for that. Before he could even tell what was happening, Tooru was getting dragged by the collar and skidding on the ground to who knew where.

He was overwhelmed, he told himself. By his memories and not by Tobio. That was what he told himself.

Regardless, Tobio threw him against a large, jagged rock, and he couldn’t stop the humiliating noise leaving his mouth when a jutted-out corner dug into his skin, slammed into his spine. It wasn’t enough to render him out for the count, of course, but then Tobio knelt before him and grabbed his wrist all business-like—and pinned it against the rock, stabbed the knife straight into his palm.

Tooru screamed through gritted teeth, felt his sweaty form turning cold from the pain. Well, it was definitely _pinned_ to the rock now. He dug his free nails into the soil and took deep breaths, if not to ease the stinging then at least to keep from yelling any louder.

That effort failed once he was face-to-face with the barrel of a gun.

“ _Wait!”_ he yelled, far too loudly in alarm, holding up the hand that wasn’t profusely bleeding as if it would keep Tobio, ever-determined and now apparently with the coordination to back it up, from pulling the trigger. Surprisingly, it did. “You—you can’t kill me.”

His face was incredulous. “Why not? I’m not on Kill Ban.”

“Yeah— _clearly,_ but that’s not my point!” What his point was, Tooru wished he knew. He took a moment to breathe, to rack his brain for a decent excuse. “You can’t kill me because...there’s something I have to do.”

“What are you talking about?” Tobio raised an eyebrow. The gun was still pointed, but at least it wasn’t shooting.

“I…” Tooru wasn’t used to employing underhanded and downright deceptive tactics to save his skin because he’d never needed it before, but he’d never had his limb stuck to a rock before either. He hoped that, for all his improvements, Tobio at least retained some of his gullibility. “I made a promise.”

“Bullshit.”

“Hear me out!” Tooru cried, used that brief moment to try and construct a reasonable story. Gullibility be damned, if Tobio still hadn’t learned to get in touch with his soft side, then Tooru’s head was as good as gone. “I’ve been spending my first few days of being on Kill Ban...at the children’s hospital.”

The gun wasn’t lowered.

“And there’s this...little boy there, that I’ve been visiting. His name’s Yuu. He’s sick. Terminally ill.”

Tobio wasn’t moved, either. “Of what?”

Tooru didn’t blink. “Vantablack Fever.”

There was a pause that Tobio used to raise another eyebrow and blink up at the sky as if it would realize his confusion and offer him an assuring nod.

“And _because_ he has Vantablack Fever—I’m sure you already know what that is, I mean, who doesn’t—” Tobio’s expression of mild horror and embarrassment would’ve been funny had Tooru not been in the middle of one of the most ridiculous and yet dangerous lies he’d ever told “—he’s going to be at the hospital for the rest of his life. He can’t experience a normal childhood. He can’t go out to play with friends.

“He can’t attend training school and become a Slayer, even if he wants to.”

That did it. Tobio’s expression melted with genuine concern and his finger on the trigger twitched and relaxed, the hand wielding the gun trembling, wondering whether to yield, Tooru himself trembling to try and keep from cracking a smile.

“What promise did you make?” Tobio asked.

“I told him—I told him that even though he’s trapped at the hospital and can’t fulfill his dreams of being a top-ranked Slayer, he still has a shot at happiness,” Tooru tried to say as matter-of-factly as he could. “And that—that he can still experience, you know, the cool things we do, even if it’s unofficial. So, uh, I’ve been showing him some basic moves the last few days, and yesterday he told me he wanted to wield a special weapon, so I said I’d get it for him.”

“And that’s why you’re here?” Oh, Tooru hadn’t even thought of that. _Thanks for making that connection, Tobio._ “What kind of weapon did you say you’d get him?”

“I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you.”

“I do have you at gunpoint.”

“And that’s an excellent point; thanks for the reminder,” Tooru grumbled. He pursed his lips in a show of bitterness, tried to think of a weapon important enough for Tobio to issue even a momentary release. “Okay, so. Word on the street is that, in these woods, there’s this...secret weapon. Super secret. No one knows what kind it is." Or more accurately, Tooru didn’t. “But it’s said that it was Ukai Ikkei’s weapon of choice back in his prime years, and that he’d slain hundreds with it, but hid it for, um...worthy Slayers to find.”

Ukai Ikkei was the greatest Slayer to ever join Karasuno’s ranks, someone Tobio hadn’t gotten the chance to meet due to the age gap. His eyes went wide. “ _The_ Ukai Ikkei?” His interest was apparent on his face. “But if you’re going to get a weapon as special as that, are you just gonna let the kid keep it after?”

“Yuu is literally dying and you’re already thinking of taking my one gift away from him. Have you no heart?”

“Shut up; I’m just being practical.”

“Tobio, there are bigger things in life than acquiring weapons from fighting legends. _My_ main concern is showing a poor, sick child happiness when the cold of the hospital room is all he’s ever known. Are you really going to take that away from me?”

Tobio’s frown deepened, but he wasn’t giving just yet.

“Yuu has six days to live.”

And then he was. With a pained groan (of course he’d be pained by the thought of giving out kindness, the monster), he pulled his arm back and shoved his gun back in its holster. “Fine,” he spat, turning away right as Tooru sagged in relief. He shrugged his backpack off and rummaged inside, hand eventually emerging with a pair of—were those handcuffs? “But if I find out you’re just making a break for your alliance, I’m shooting you straightaway and declaring Seijoh Karasuno’s official nemesis. And I’m not letting you leave my sight.”

Tooru gaped at the metal chains. “You brought _handcuffs?”_

“Hey, I never know what kind of shit you might pull.” Tobio shrugged, right before grabbing the hilt of his knife digging into Tooru’s flesh and pulling it out like he would a knife stuck in a Christmas ham at dinnertime.

Tooru grunted, squeeze his eyes shut. “Jesus Christ,” he wheezed, teeth grinding, and brought his hand closer to his face to examine the deep gash on his palm. His hand was twitching lightly but erratically, the suddenness of both the penetration and the leave of the knife doing no favours for the pour of blood, but Tobio made a grab for his wrist anyway, ready to secure it with the cuffs.

He scowled. “Can’t you have a little mercy? Do you think Yuu would want to see me at the hospital with all this blood on my hand?”

“If he wants to be a top Slayer, he’s gonna have to be familiar with blood.”

“He’s eight, and I can’t get him the gift if I die from blood loss!”

“God, _fine.”_

Grumbling to himself, Tobio once again reached inside his backpack and pulled out a hand towel. Clean-looking, but still just a towel. “I’m not cleaning that up for you. This is all you’re gonna get,” he snapped. He set the cuffs down and focused on Tooru’s hand instead, looking like he was ready to torture it rather than treat it, and Tooru feared for his life even more.

“Ow! Ow, ow, ow!” As if all the grace he’d exhibited as he combatted were all an even bigger lie than Yuu’s deadly fever, Tobio wrapped the cloth around Tooru’s wound far too fast and without any care. It stung even worse than when it was butchered by the knife. Tooru dug his nails into Tobio’s unforgiving arm. “Fuck, shit, could you be a little gentler?”

“I was trying to get you to go down just earlier and now you want me to be gentle.”

“I hate you.”

“So you’ve said before.”

Tooru fell silent, recollections of his constant name-calling and face-making and a small Tobio bearing it all taking center stage in his thoughts, until the big Tobio was finishing his handiwork and tightly tying his makeshift bandage, and he was groaning instead, the muscles on his face sore from how tightly they were pulled into frowns and grimaces.

“There,” Tobio said, and Tooru promptly fell to the floor.

“You have,” he panted, “no soul.”

Without further comment, Tobio simply fetched the handcuffs and proceeded to lock them around Tooru’s wrists. Tooru hoped that by the time he’d gotten rid of Tobio, he would have enough strength left to break them off.

“Get up,” Tobio ordered as he finished sorting out his belongings. “We’re gonna do this fast.”

He tugged on the chains and Tooru had no doubt that it would certainly turn to yanking if he didn’t cooperate quickly enough, so he took one deep breath and rose. He glared as Tobio eyed him from head to toe before dragging him off a few feet, to where his own possessions lay spectating, continued to glare while Tobio glanced at the Doritos and took Tooru’s backpack to shrug it on his own shoulders and over his stomach.

A hostage, Tooru thought. He wondered how many times Tobio had already done this whole ‘keeping someone captive’ thing.

“Where to?” he asked, once he was good and settled.

Shit, he hadn’t thought of that yet. Tooru tensed, tried to rack his brain (thinking quicker than usual today, but he supposed it was the gravity of the situation talking) for a nearby destination, somewhere he could lure Tobio to fight him better, distract him maybe, have him forgetting that Tooru existed at all because there was a more pressing matter at hand. His alliance was out of the question—Tobio had made that known and anyway, they didn’t spend any time in these woods.

Tooru knew some other people that did, though. Some other people that would probably _love_ to see Tobio and would be happy to take care of him in Tooru’s stead.

Concealing a wry smile, Tooru hummed. “I don’t know the place exactly. This _is_ a search, after all. But I know the general direction.”

“I swear to god, if this is just one of your alliance’s hideouts—”

“It’s not. I swear on little Yuu’s life.”

“I’d believe it better if you swore on yours.”

Finally allowing himself a smile, one that reached his eyes but probably shouldn’t have, Tooru took a breath. “I swear on my life,” he said, slowly, knowing full well that if this went wrong, his life would definitely the ultimate price with which he was going to pay.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the thing i've been slaving over these last few weeks. i'm not going to go in detail about how much of a wild ride it was writing this but if you're interested, you can read the adventure on [my writing journal](https://diecrotic.dreamwidth.org/tag/event:+oikagebb). till next time, folks.
> 
> || [tumblr](http://kakkoweeb.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/diecrotic) | [writing journal](https://diecrotic.dreamwidth.org/) | [instagram bc why not](https://www.instagram.com/diecrotic/) ||


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so thanks to the lovely [deadseasalt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/deadseasalt/pseuds/deadseasalt) this fic shall now update weekly, every friday at about 10 PM PHT (idk what timezones y'all are in but i know ours is early so i'll put it up late); thank you very much for the suggestion! as i said before, this chapter has been uploaded in your honour. warning at this point in the game: it's going to get really messy, and also the chapters are pretty long. good luck, and be seeing you for like. two more fridays 
> 
> friendly and vERY GENTLE reminder tho: there is [beautiful art for this fic](http://hetaliabunnyart.tumblr.com/post/168082986588/oddity-a-rarity-by-kakkoweeb), drawn by the also very lovely [hetaliabunnyart](http://hetaliabunnyart.tumblr.com)!!! please support them, they are lovely and the only reason this fic is alive

His chains in Tobio’s hands (quite literally), Tooru silently dragged himself forward, out of the small clearing and in the direction of another path he didn’t really frequent, and for good measure. There could’ve been an entire book of reasons why nobody who gave importance to themselves should tread where they were about to tread, but all of that was for later, for Tobio himself to figure out. Maybe even write.

Right now, what Tooru was interested in was Tobio himself, Tobio and all his silence and murderous glares that didn’t always necessarily come with murder attached. It had been a long while since he last saw the guy in the flesh, their encounters strictly limited to the appearances both of them made on television and in the magazines, and though those interviews never lacked any prying, personal questions, it was all impersonal at best. Tooru always found it fun talking to Tobio in the early days, back when he was a little less rude and had a little less height to boast about.

This wasn’t some big reunion, not when they were out for each other’s guts, but if it was either one or the other, then a bit of small talk probably wouldn’t be so bad. After all, enemies were supposed to be kept closer, or something. (Yeah. It wasn’t like Tooru had any interest outside of that.)

“So, Tobio,” he began, “how have you been?”

“Fine? But is this really the time to be starting a conversation?”

“Anytime’s the time to be starting a conversation. Well, I guess you’ve always been bad with people, so you wouldn’t know.”

“Shut up.” Tobio tugged on his chains. “Are you forgetting that I could easily kill you anytime?”

If his hands were only free, Tooru would’ve held one of them against his own chest. “You wouldn’t do that to Yuu, would you? He’s waiting for me at the hospital!”

“I’ll visit him and tell him you died honourably. Sort of.”

Tooru snorted. It was virtually impossible to appeal to this guy with the use of emotions. “I didn’t realize you were this excited to see me die.”

“I’m not excited to see you die. I’m excited to kill you.”

“Not any better, no. How long has this been going on exactly?”

“Since training.”

“You’ve wanted to kill me since you were _twelve?”_

“Uhh, something like that, yeah.”

“You never did have a soul, did you?”

“It’s what you do to get ahead,” Tobio said simply, like he was stating a fact. And, to be fair, he was, even though most twelve-year olds were just praying not to embarrass themselves during the preliminary training sessions. “It isn’t anything personal against you. I had my goals at that age, and I knew what I had to do to get them. To get ahead, you just need to beat the best. It still hasn’t changed.”

It sounded like Tobio was indirectly calling him the best; Tooru tried not to smile too conspicuously. Damn right, he was the best—or one of them, anyway—and killing him would certainly do a lot of Slayers a lot of favours. Tobio included, because even with all his genius he was still less experienced, still had a lower rank, still lacked the smarts to defeat Tooru in whatever way.

Except for this instance, of course, in which he was basically hauling Tooru around like a dog with a collar, but this was an extraordinary circumstance and couldn’t be held against Tooru or his skillset. And anyway, it wasn’t exactly a defeat. After all, Tooru was still alive.

And soon, if things went his way, he would also be home free.

He wasn’t sure how long they’d already walked, on account of the cuffs getting in the way of him checking his wristwatch, but talking to Tobio, he found, was an excellent way to pass the time. When Tobio had substantial replies, anyway. He’d always been awkward, never much of a talker, even back at training. Kindaichi and Kunimi had attested that this hadn’t changed in all their years of training together, spoke about Tobio offhandedly but far too fondly for people who claimed to hate him. Tobio had never been good with people but somehow, he’d always been good with those two.

At least until his third year of Novice training. That had been one strange year and, Tooru had always guessed, was probably the reason why he hadn’t allied with Seijoh. But even before that year, Tobio hadn’t been the kind to want to make friends and keep them. How out of touch with his emotions was he, exactly?

“Say, Tobio,” Tooru spoke up again, as a test, right as the path took an unexpected bend he gestured for Tobio to follow, “you said you wanted to kill me since training, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Is that why you didn’t go for Seijoh?”

Tobio didn’t bother pausing or thinking about it. “You could say that, yeah. I know Kunimi and Kindaichi were going to Seijoh the moment they figured it out for themselves, but I knew it wouldn’t work for me. There are too many strong people there. If I wasn’t going to be allowed to kill them, I’d never get to move up. Even if I did join you, I’d have left eventually and you’d all have a personal grudge against me for it.”

Tooru hummed. “They probably still wanted to ally with you, you know. Even after what happened.”

This time, he did pause, kept his eyes trained on the ground as they walked. But then: “I’ll be sure to apologize to them when I hand over your remains, then.”

And it was official: Tooru was dealing with a numbskull. He made a face Tobio didn’t bother looking at. “They’d literally kill you on the spot.”

“I’ll be ready,” Tobio assured. “Now how far away are we?”

Shaking his head, Tooru examined their surroundings. The path was even clearer than it had been a while ago, the not-too-wide, not-too-narrow space in between the trees so obviously marked by many and heavy footsteps that crushed leaf after leaf and twig after twig every time they passed. Nearby tree barks were sporting all kinds of battle scars, some of which, Tooru figured, were very deliberate and just done to pass the time, if the badly scratched-out kanji for lion was any indication.

“Not far now,” he said, careful not to look too long at anything that might catch Tobio’s attention.

Sure enough, when Tooru had pulled Tobio for a final turn to the left, only a short walk remained before they were finally greeted by a large, out-of-place, and unattractive brown building, worn-down by age and experience. It had been a while since Tooru’s last visit for purposes of reconnaissance, and though it had only gone downhill since then, clearly, at least one thing remained the same. The familiar whiff of old beer had managed to find him and his nose even from feet away.

Apparently, it found Tobio’s as well. He made a face. “Ugh, what is that?”

“Beer, of course. Never been to a pub before?”

“No. Who has the time for that?” Tobio retorted, wrinkling his nose, but he kept walking anyway, even as his face changed from disgusted to confused. A transition Tooru honestly didn’t know how he managed to identify, given that they were both furrowed brows and taut frown. “Wait. Wait, is this where we’re going?”

“Yup.”

“What the hell would a special weapon be doing in a dirty pub like this?”

“Oh, it’s not at the pub itself, but this is a necessary stepping stone.”

“What, like there’s a secret passage here to get to wherever the weapon’s hidden?”

Tobio was really good at bridging connections Tooru didn’t want to have to make. He smiled, absolutely delighted. “That’s right, Tobio! You’re pretty good at this. Ever gone treasure-hunting before?”

“Not really. Who told you about this again?”

“Oh, you know. A little swan.”

Tobio stiffened, slowed his walk and let a pinch of doubt creep onto his face, but it hardly mattered. By the time they were coming to a full stop, the pub’s old-fashioned doors were already right before them. “Uh,” he said, “doesn’t that saying go—shouldn’t it be ‘a little bird’?”

Good on Tobio for having knowledge on foreign idioms. Unfortunately, right at this moment, that knowledge was absolutely useless. Tooru smiled even wider.

“Nope.”

And he burst through the doors as loudly as was humanly possible.

Right off the bat, several of the heads currently wasting away on the faded bar stools quickly whipped around to face his and, more importantly, Tobio’s direction, and his grin quite quickly turned toothy. He directed the jovial look at Tobio once he felt the hand around his cuff chains loosen, wanted to burst out laughing when it tightened tenfold and without warning.

“Oh,” he said instead, “I hope you don’t mind; there’s a couple of people around.”

Tobio looked like he was going through the five stages of grief all at once, his pupils moving far too fast to not be considered alarming, drinking in the sight of all of their familiar faces and possibly wanting to regurgitate them as fast as he could digest. Occasionally, they would briefly drift to Tooru, possibly considering stabbing him right here and now.

He didn’t. He couldn’t.

“You couldn’t have told me,” he grumbled, teeth gritted, “that this pub is that one pub that’s always visited by _Shiratorizawa?”_

The last word was almost a scream and, as if summoned by the mention of his alliance’s name, Ushijima Wakatoshi rose from his spot on a stool that was far too small to be comfortable given his large physique, and cast a glance over both Tooru and Tobio, his trademark glance that made children cry on regular days.

But Tooru only threw a hand over his mouth in feigned innocence. “Oh, right!” he cried, the tone of his voice making evident how badly he wanted to sing right now. “I forgot that Shiratorizawa’s had a major grudge against Karasuno since that one group duel that you totally crushed them at. Whoops!”

“Whoops, my ass,” Tobio growled, taking a step back when Ushiwaka took one forward, but Tooru kept him in place.

“I think the angry mob before us will have that covered.”

“Oikawa,” came Ushijima’s booming voice, “and Kageyama.” A tad lower and infinitely more menacing there; boy, was Tooru going to enjoy this. “What a surprise.”

It was honestly a miracle that the man knew what the word ‘surprise’ even meant, given that he was even worse at expressing emotions other than nonchalance and irritation than the soulless Tobio. Tobio himself was starting to gain a little soul, in actuality. His glances at the sea of faces before him were incredibly wary, his posture shaped by sheer alarm.

The sight of it helped Tooru regard Ushiwaka, another constant headache, a little warmer than usual. “Good afternoon, Ushiwaka-chan. And to the rest of you, of course.” He nodded at the rest of the assembly, all unmoving and unblinking and yet still clutching their rusty pints. “Hope we’re not disturbing anything.”

“Do you have business here?” Ushiwaka asked.

Tooru started to walk in, tried to casually string Tobio along for the ride. “Well, actually—”

“No,” Tobio cut in, urgently, pulling Tooru back by the shackles before he could go anywhere Tobio couldn’t be, “no. No business. We were just leaving.”

“But Tobio-chan, we came all this way. Leaving now would be a waste.”

“What do you think you’re playing at?” Tobio hissed, drawing him even closer. “There’s eight of them here right now and all of them hate you too.”

Tooru winked as he whispered back. “They hate you more.”

Tobio scowled.

“You know what? Oikawa’s absolutely right,” the bug-eyed Tendou said, holding up a pint as he sauntered his way past his alliance leader and towards their forms, Tooru’s relaxed and Tobio’s cautious. Normally, Tooru wouldn’t allow such a creepy guy to get so close, but his arms around their shoulders didn’t feel hostile, and it was far too amusing to see Tobio’s face contort when whatever Tendou was drinking ended up right by his nose. “No reason for you to leave so soon when you’re already here! Have a drink, let loose, let your defenses crumble!”

“Like we need for them to be drunk to be able to kill them,” another one of the members remarked calmly, in between sips of his drink, as Tendou ushered the newcomers to be ogled at the center of the room. Several other people got on their feet, circled them.

“The law dictates that we’re not allowed to fight while or after we drink,” Ushiwaka stated, and Tooru had to keep from rolling his eyes, “so only those sober enough will be able to combat. I apologize, Tendou.”

“Aww.”

“So, how do we go about this?”

It wasn’t commonplace for entire alliances to work together to slay individuals, especially if the individuals were ranked as high as Tooru and Tobio were, because it told nothing about individual skill. What usually happened in situations like these (not that Tooru had gone through many) was that alliances worked to capture the individuals instead, kept them captive until they could work out for themselves who would get the final say—or rather, the final slay.

Tooru wasn’t about to let himself get captured, of course. He was going to leave today and Tobio was going to be none the wiser, or the luckier.

“Maybe we split up half and half,” someone suggested. “Oh, wait, not half. Satori can’t join in.”

“God damn it.”

“So we’re gonna have to decide on priority. Who gets four, who gets three?”

It was honestly so amusing to watch them plan as if they stood a chance, and Tooru couldn’t help but forget himself, found himself letting out a short laugh. “Like you’re not gonna need all eight of you to deal with one,” he muttered.

Apparently louder than what was safe, because in a flash, all eight pairs of Shiratorizawa eyes were glaring at him with the intent to, very literally, kill, and Tobio was gawking at him like he was the biggest idiot of the century. His smile faded, turned instead into a blank, regretful show of teeth. He swallowed.

Ushiwaka nodded at his accomplices. “It’s decided then,” he said, swishing a tiny blade out of his shirt sleeve and letting the sharp edge glint in the cheap pub light. “We go for both of them at once. No assignments, and no murder yet. Maiming is acceptable. Combat whoever’s closer or whose arms you want to see ripped off first.”

Now _that_ was backfire.

Before anyone from the Shiratorizawa circle could move, Tooru swiftly dragged his cuffs forward, effectively launching Tobio in Ushiwaka’s direction, and then just as swiftly launched himself the opposite way, blocking blows from some of Shiratorizawa’s junior members in his attempt to pass. His bound hands were one big problem, to be sure, his inability to perform two-armed strikes against three fairly-formidable opponents getting him a thorough kick in the side, landing him on his back on the ground.

In no time at all, he was playing some fucked up game of whack-a-mole with a rather large boot trying to get a hold of his chains, and then rolling away to keep his head safe from an incoming bullet. He hopped to his feet, slammed his head and body against the annoying one with the awful hair, their combined form knocking into the shooter and having all three of them hurtling down. He made sure to rise before the other two could, stole a brief look at Tobio surrounded by the older more prominent members and even the tipsy Tendou, and broke into a run.

A metal pipe collided with his temple right as he turned towards the front entrance, and he was falling back down once again. Growling, he didn’t bother checking who was interfering with his escape this time; he grabbed onto a nearby stool and threw it up, stood up and kicked his opponent with both legs, used him as leverage to flip back onto his feet.

The brief second he took to breathe he also used to stop in his tracks. Tobio and his assailants were in the way of Tooru’s exit now, and he had just enough time to watch Tobio get brutally thrown against the wall before he decided he’d have to get a move on if he didn’t want to catch them finishing up and looking for a new target.

His eyes found the backdoor slower than he would have liked, something he could only make up for by pushing down as many obstructing objects as possible to deter anyone that might have been hot on his tail. A throwing knife missed his throat by a few inches and he allowed himself to chase after it, take a detour to throw it back, and it was only when he was hopping over the bar counter and ducking away from even more gunshots did he hear the pained scream, but by then it didn’t matter.

The door was but feet away now but Tooru snatched up some of the bread knives on the counter shelves anyway, angled his arm and sent them flying off like he would boomerangs, before finally, _finally_ rushing out the door and back into the safety of the woods.

Or so he thought.

The far horizon before him was a pretty good indicator that his running had to stop, and his feet had just rightly skidded up to the edge of the plain the pub stood on right before it dipped low and steep and disappeared under the shadow of some of the tallest, most ominous-looking trees he’d had ever seen. Ones that stretched out far beyond what he had the capability to see.

He caught his breath, looked around. The area was completely closed off, the only way out either through the nearly-straight slope or back through where all the fighting still occurred. He could still hear crashing, screaming from the inside, but looking down at the awful drop, somehow returning still felt more attractive. What lay beyond was far too unfamiliar to be considered an option, and if he was going to have to roll his way down to find out what exactly went on beneath those scary trees, then he’d rather not know at all.

But Tooru was the luckiest person in the world today. Right as he’d decided to turn back, the door he’d left out was bursting open and then a panicked Tobio was rushing out, thoughtlessly and wordlessly sprinting forward and before Tooru could even remember how to move, Tobio’s entire body was hitting his and they were losing their balance on top of what would probably be the wildest slide of their lives.

They fell onto it with two urgent screams.

The scream stayed as Tooru spun laterally in mid-air, turned into pained groans when he harshly hit the surface of the slope with his right shoulder and hip and leg, turned into complete silence mediated by eyes squeezed shut and nails clawing into his own skin as the two regularly alternated, as blades of grass and heaps of soil flew onto his face and into his mouth. Even the dark field his closed eyelids presented before him seemed to spin and the way down seemed to last forever, punctuated by his head or his toes brushing against hard things he didn’t bother trying to look at. All he could really do was pray he wouldn’t throw up all over himself when it all finally stopped.

Unsurprisingly, what greeted him at the stop was even more pain and discomfort. His momentum had been dutifully interrupted by what seemed to be the above-ground root of a tree and then the beginnings of its trunk, the both of them slamming into Tooru’s stomach and chest and effectively shaking up his ribcage and his lungs. He heaved then, eyes wide open from the impact, vision spinning as if gravity had inexplicably vanished. Tooru clutched at his head, wheezed, spat out the leaves that had settled on his tongue, felt all of the stinging in his joints and arms and the wound on his hand he’d somehow forgotten about coming together and prodding at the edges of his composure.

A coughing fit emerging from his right brought him back to reality, and Tooru craned his neck just in time to see Tobio, propped up on his elbows and taking deep breaths in the darkness. His dishevelled hair and blackening eye and bleeding lip that Tooru could only barely see didn’t seem to make him any less sightly, but all things ‘sightly’ quickly went forgotten the minute Tobio had successfully managed to dislodge the thick ball of leaves and numerous twigs from the back of his throat. He inhaled roughly, exhaled fully, and let his head drop to the ground, never mind that his hair fell on top of the saliva-wet pile of junk he’d just gotten rid off.

Tooru had already bled more times than anyone could count, but he grimaced. "Eugh."

That small sound was enough to bring Tobio back to life, it seemed, and when he abruptly raised his head his eyes were wild and no doubt ready for slaughter. Tooru himself, all pain aside, sat straight up, limbs half-poised for an urgent ascent and run.

"You goddamn _asshole,"_ he yelled, slamming his palm against the leaves and soil as he hoisted himself up to his knees, unsteadily but effectively, and crawled his way towards his tattered backpack.

Tooru wished he could reach for his own, but it was at Tobio’s feet. "Okay," he said, glancing at it, "I know you’re mad—"

He opened the bag, legs quivering, but he managed to stand up anyway. "You lied to me!"

"Lie is a really strong word—"

"There is no weapon—" He rummaged inside as he took unstable stomps towards Tooru "—there is no dying kid, and you’re full of _shit."_

"That last part is debatable—"

" _I am going to fucking_ —" Tobio dropped his bag, revealing the large, chainsaw-esque weapon in his grasp which, when he pulled at the chain, promptly caught fire "— _INCINERATE you."_

"Oh, shit."

If there hadn’t been any hesitation on Tobio’s end earlier by the clearing in the woods, he certainly had less now. Eyes burning far brighter than the legitimate flame in his hands, he yanked at the chain once more, allowing the weapon’s teeth to roar to life as if they still needed to. The only warning that Tooru received was one quick step forward before he was faced with Tobio’s full-force swing and ungracefully diving in another direction.

His defenses weren’t well-received, neither by Tobio nor the forces of nature, and he found himself face-planting right into the root that had so thoroughly obstructed his breathing just minutes ago, rolling on his side and groaning and pinching his nose despite the approach of an angry flaming hooligan just about ready to wipe him off the face of the earth. He squinted up at Tobio, felt too frustrated to try and get up, supposed that if he was meant to stay in this highly-inconvenient life then God himself would be the one to intervene.

And right as he’d thought that, there was a bark.

Almost as though it was a matter of grave importance, the fury on Tobio’s face vanished, his gaze once locked on Tooru now moving elsewhere, and his lack of attention had the gears of his little toy wavering and coming to a complete halt, leaving them in almost complete silence. Startled, though not by the sound of an animal, Tooru sat up as well, studied Tobio’s intrigued face and then the surroundings, using the illumination that Tobio’s fire provided.

“Was that you?” Tobio snapped, still irate apparently.

“No,” Tooru quickly said.

“Good. Because I’m not about to fall for any more of your tricks.”

Tooru started right as he lifted his weapon for yet another swing. “Hey, no, stop! Are you an idiot? We’re literally surrounded by trees and you’re going to set everything on fire!”

It was more of a hasty excuse than anything, but completely relevant—so much that Tobio had stopped his arm where it was, took the time to narrow his eyes at their undeniably leafy setting, and then let his posture fall slack, let his hands fall to his sides, switching the flames off of the thing with a groan. “Fine,” he said, begrudgingly. Tooru silently thanked their Ethics classes for putting emphasis on protecting the safety of nature even when they were out to invalidate someone else’s. “Guess I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

He made another grab for the string that activated the teeth.

“ _Whoawhoawhoawhoa_ , wait, wait!”

“That’s what you said before you hand-delivered me to Shiratorizawa to get killed!”

“I know, I know!” said Tooru, holding his hands up much like he had earlier, both for his own defense and in an effort to calm a wild beast. “And I get that that’s upsetting, but I’m serious this time. Just—wait.”

For such an impatient guy, Tobio rather had an inclination for hanging onto Tooru’s words and actually following along with his requests. He supposed that was a privilege he ought to be grateful for, but it could only last for so long. He surveyed the area again, tried to find something that he could possibly use to save his skin a second time, but he didn’t think anything had ever been found in fluctuating near-pitch blackness.

Maybe this could be the first time. “Isn’t it...kind of dark?”

It was hard to notice when the desperation to keep his life was buzzing in his ears, but now it was abundantly clear—or rather, the exact opposite: down here, there was almost zero light. Almost, because occasionally a little bit of the late afternoon sun’s rays would somehow reach them, sometimes not, perhaps obstructed by the swaying leaves of the high trees above. And what little of Tobio he could make out at the moment seemed to realize this just now as well. He heard the crunching of boots against the ground, saw the moving shadow of his head, but not much else.

“It is,” Tobio said, grabbing Tooru by the cuffs and forcefully pulling him to his feet, ever diligent even in the dark. “Actually, do you know where we are?”

“Far from civilization,” was all Tooru could say for sure. “You have a light?”

Without releasing Tooru from his death grip (meticulous little brat), Tobio bent down to blindly grope around for his backpack and then inside it. Thankfully, it wasn’t too prolonged an effort, and in no time his phone screen was lighting up his hand and face as he unlocked the device, and then the torch light was coming on and lighting up a reasonable fraction of their area.

Not that it did much. The darkness wasn’t the only reason for their blindness, it looked like; other than their out of place bodies and belongings in the small space, there was nothing to behold apart from trees, trees, and oh! more trees, most if not all of them too high to even see the tops. Besides the one whose root had butchered Tooru’s upper body twice already, there also came thin and straight ones that stood far too close to each other, leaves invisible from where Tooru stood.

He supposed that those were the ridiculously high ones that Tooru had seen from atop the hill. He shuddered. No wonder the sunlight had such a difficult time passing through.

Tobio didn’t look frightened. He kept his face serious as he shed light on various parts of their little circle of heaven, seemed to frown deeper and deeper the more trees fell in his sight. “Everything looks so tight and dark,” he complained. “How the hell are we going to get out of here?”

“I think we fit,” Tooru said, moving to try and squeeze himself through a small gap in the trees and Tobio quick to follow that movement should he have been trying to make a break for it.

“You’d fit better if you were a pile of ashes, though.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine, burn me. Have fun dying of suffocation after.”

“I could chop you and store the pieces in my bag.”

“Oh, and the ‘master of direction’ Tobio-chan can so easily make it out of this maze of a forest alone, can he?” he challenged, and even in the dim light, he could see the slight flush of Tobio’s cheeks. Tooru offered a condescending smile. “Talk to me again when you find a marked road and a street sign, okay, little lost Tobio?”

“Shut up. That was just two times.”

“Three, actually, if you count the one where I finally refused to be the one to look for you." Tooru could feel something warm in his chest, building up from the recollection.  "Now are we leaving or what?”

Tobio paused, locked their gazes for a good while with his frown pretty well-maintained on his face, before tugging lightly at his chains. “Yeah. But could you please get out of there for a second?”

The request was polite, but what followed after Tooru’s compliance was anything but. Tobio yanked on the chains and Tooru tripped over his own feet, stumbled over to the center of their little corner before getting kicked in the stomach. He felt his breath leave him as he fell down on his back a good foot away from where he’d been attacked, but Tobio didn’t seem interested in doing much else.

“That’s for lying to me,” Tobio said, staring down at Tooru with contempt and a little bit of satisfaction. He was done with that quickly enough, though, returned to forcing Tooru back on his feet despite his lack of ability to breathe. “You can try to run but when I catch you, you’ll be chopped on the spot. Got it?”

Tooru wheezed.

 

He would never put it past Tobio to grab him and start chopping him without warning, to be honest, but it wasn’t like Tooru had plans to run. With how tightly they were going to be moving about for the next few—minutes? hours?—it was going to be impossible to even jog, let alone sprint for the sake of an escape. The metal circling Tooru’s wrists didn’t help, and neither did Tobio haphazardly dragging his backpack on the ground as he travelled.

This was going to suck.

And by that, Tooru meant: more than it already did. He loved trees and dark, mysterious ambiances as much as the next guy, but to see those and nothing _but_ those at literally every turn his pupils took was a little much. Getting sandwiched was never fun, in the same way that getting dust and dirt all over his training clothes was never fun.

“Ugh,” he groaned, all too aware even in the dark that a bit of moss had just attached itself to his nose after it had brushed against the millionth tree bark, “what _is_ this place? And do you even know where you’re going? Do you have a compass or a map or something?”

“I do, but it needs data to be of any use,” Tobio replied, and Tooru only rolled his eyes again. “I do have a compass, but what’s that even gonna do?”

“I don’t know, tell us where North is?”

“What’s up North?”

Tooru took a breath to speak, clicked his tongue instead of speaking.

He wished he knew the time. The only thing worse than maneuvering through a cramped space in the physical dark was doing so in the metaphorical dark, unaware of how long had passed or what else had taken place. And of course, the compassionate Tobio wasn’t about to give him his cellphone for the sake of his own convenience. A smart decision, really, but Tooru was still bitter.

And also kind of bored. Sinister as the ambience was, there was only so much enjoyment to be found in shuffling past millions of trees. He wondered if he could fall asleep counting them.

Something barked.

"WHOA!" Tobio cried, lost his footing and fell on his ass all at once, their only light getting crushed between his fallen phone and the grass beneath.

Tooru frowned, reached for the phone and held it up. "What was—"

He gasped instead of finishing his question.

Before them, perfect complexion faintly lit by Tobio’s meagre light, stood the most charming, most handsome, most charismatic dog that Tooru had ever seen. It stood up till his knees, fur various shades of light brown aside from the great dark spot on its back, standing alert yet not hostile, eyes scrutinizing every part of their being, like it had the intention of searching through their souls.

Tooru let loose a delighted squeal. "Ohh, he’s so cute!"

"How’d you know that it’s male so fast?" Tobio demanded.

The stupid question was thoroughly ignored, Tooru wisely choosing to spend his time approaching the majestic and good boy. He took a step back when Tooru drew closer but otherwise stayed where he was, stared curiously at the chains that bound Tooru’s hands but didn’t flinch away from Tooru’s touch.

Gently stroking the little guy’s head, Tooru couldn’t believe he’d forgotten his soft spot for dogs. The last time he had one was back in his early days of training, a frightening-looking Doberman that bit others and yet adored him, one he’d so cleverly named Iwa-chan (the duel that the _actual_ Iwa-chan had challenged him to after was neither easy nor very pretty, but completely worth it). He’d passed away before Tooru could even leave Novice level and he hadn’t bothered getting another afterward, the hole his unexpected death had carved into Tooru’s heart too great to fill.

He didn’t regret that, but getting to scratch a chin as fluffy and soft as this was definitely a sensation he’d deprived himself of for years. "Aww, aren’t you a soft boy? Adorable. Who’s adorable? You are!"

The dog looked pretty pleased, sat down.

"Is this gonna take long?" Tobio asked, already on his feet and crossing his arms.

"Grumpy. Don’t listen to him, cutie, he’s just embarrassed he got scared of such a good boy like you," Tooru said, ignored the groan that resounded from behind him. "Were you the one we heard barking earlier, hmm?"

In answer and as an example, the dog barked once more.

"Ooh, you’re a smart one, aren’t you? What are you doing out here all by yourself? Are you lost like us? Poor thing. It’ll be better for all of us to stick together, right?"

"Whoa? No?" Tobio cut in, approaching the scene. Tooru half-expected the animal to back away from his demon face, but he didn’t seem scared of anything. What a brave soul. "It’s already hard enough to get around when it’s just us. We can’t haul around a dog too."

"We’re not gonna haul him around. He’s perfectly capable of following along for himself. Dogs are more skillful than anyone gives them credit for, Tobio-chan," Tooru declared. "But I guess an animal-hater like yourself wouldn’t know that."

"I don’t hate animals; they hate me!"

"And that’s just one more solid piece of evidence that they’re smart." Tooru met Tobio’s glower with a smug grin, turned a friendly one towards their new friend. "You’d like that too, right? Walking with us? It’s gonna be less lonely."

He held his hand out, allowed the dog to sniff it, smiled at the consequent yip he could only interpret as one of agreement.

"All right! The majority vote is in—" He could physically feel the arc Tobio’s eyes traced as they rolled "—so it’s decided. He’s coming with us! Do you have a name, cutie?"

Said cutie cocked his head to the side, his tail moving up and down and thumping against the ground.

"I guess not. Okay, I’ll name you!"

"Well, this should be good."

"Shut up, Tobio. Let’s see." He tapped a finger on his own chin. "Tobio. Tooru. Kageyama. Oikawa. Oh! My last name has river, and yours has mountain. So we’ve got land and water. What we need is sky, so…" Beaming, he held both of the dog’s cheeks in his hands. "How does Riku sound?"

"Doesn’t that mean land?"

"Not if you use two characters, and didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Tooru snapped, lazily glancing behind him before once again grinning at the precious creature in front, soon to be named. “You like Riku, little guy? Is it okay?”

He barked, accompanied the sound with an abrupt jolt of the head.

“That looks like a yes to me!” Tooru cried happily, clasping his hands together. Riku (it was a good name, no matter how dead inside Tobio was; it was better than just plain Sora, anyway) seemed to sense his enthusiasm, stood up right as he managed to straighten his own legs. “Ready to go, Riku?”

He barked again. It was even better than the conversations he had with Tobio.

"Okay! Then let’s—" Tooru began, already excitedly lifting a leg to resume their little trek, but the throb of his palm and the weight of his handcuffs seemed to magnify as he came face to face with the next tree along their current path, the billionth one they’d seen today, no doubt. "Ugh."

"Yeah," Tobio said, arms still crossed, leaning against a nearby tree, "not so exciting now, huh?" He pushed off and squeezed himself through the gap. "We’re still going, though. And you’re on dog duty."

That didn’t sound so bad. Tooru gestured for Riku to move ahead. "Come on, boy. If we don’t hurry, that constipated guy ahead’s gonna get angry."

"I can still hear you."

"Good," Tooru called aloud, stepping through the gap himself once Riku had.

It turned out that nothing Tooru had insinuated about Riku and his abilities had been wrong. He was fairly large as dogs went but seemed to navigate through the narrow paths with ease—definitely more than Tobio and Tooru could say for themselves when they perpetually found themselves stuck, Tobio because of his heavy baggage and Tooru because of the god-forsaken cuffs. He’d managed to get ahead of Tobio at one point in time, even, and despite Tooru’s incessant worrying that he was going to wander too far ahead, he never did, Tobio claiming that he would stop and wait whenever their gap became too wide.

He would bark every now and again too, sometimes walk right by Tobio’s feet and coax an awkward smile out of him, sometimes walk by Tooru’s feet and basically just tempt him to unleash a barrage of compliments and petting, and though the road was still not quite a road and simply put: terrible, it was the most encouraging thing. Dogs truly were therapeutic somehow, and he couldn’t be happier than they had one with them.

But more than sending various shots to Tooru’s dog-loving heart, it was baffling how easily he moved around, how he seemed to know the place. Even while they moved, the only source of light still being Tobio’s phone, Tooru couldn’t help but let his mind float to places far away, wondering how such a behaved animal arrived in such a remote area, wondering if someone brought and left him here.

Or perhaps brought him here and stuck around.

He examined the innocent-looking Riku then, his lolling tongue and light footsteps. Anyone who would use such a gift of nature for sinister purposes could only be the scum of the earth, people Tooru would be very quick to annihilate if only he were allowed, but he wondered how trustworthy the animal himself could be as well. These types of dogs were pretty easy to train, or so he’d heard. If owned by the wrong person, it would be too easy for him to turn into the wrong dog.

But no, he wasn’t going to think of that right now. Right now, they were in the middle of a journey constantly fluctuating from boring to too-perilous and there was a light shining up ahead—a light that certainly wasn’t Tobio’s, for the first time in how long. Tooru felt his own eyes grow wide, saw Tobio glance back at him with his own variant of a curious face.

And then heard Riku whine, stopped hearing his footsteps along with the human ones.

Tooru followed his example, turned around to look at him. He was on alert, almost crouched in alarm, staring straight and unblinking far from where Tooru stood. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay, buddy?” he asked, moving back to give the dog a friendly pat on the head.

“I think he doesn’t like the light,” Tobio observed. “What do you think it is, anyway?”

“If we’re lucky, the edge of this forest,” Tooru replied, “and if we’re a little less lucky, maybe other people.” He looked at Riku, wondered about his potential owner, but quickly shoved the thought away, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be reacting this way if whatever was ahead was something or someone he was accustomed to. “Either way, I think it’s pretty clear we have to keep moving.”

“We do. Though we probably have to be careful.”

“That was true from the minute we fell down here,” Tooru muttered, once again moving forward but keeping his eyes trained on their canine companion, whose demeanour hadn’t changed in the slightest. “Riku, are you coming?”

He made no sound, but took a few steps back.

“So that’s a no,” Tobio said. “Do we leave him behind?”

Tooru frowned. “That’s not an option. But maybe we should take this as a sign that wherever that is, it’s not where we’re meant to go. Dogs can usually be trusted with this kind of thing. If he doesn’t like it, there’s a big chance it’s for a good reason.”

“But where do we go? Back?”

“Not necessarily. I mean, we’re just guessing paths here, so maybe if we take a...I don’t know, a left right here, we could—”

Riku let out a rough bark.

Words cut short, Tooru jumped at the suddenness of the sound, warily checked around for anything that could’ve caused such a reaction. He couldn’t see anything that had emerged from the shadows without warning, but what he eventually did see was the movement of the distant light, swaying minimally, and then coming closer.

He swallowed right as Tobio retreated from his spot steps ahead, jumped again when Riku let out another loud bark.

“Riku,” Tooru whispered, whirling around and crouching so he was eye-to-eye with the evidently-disgruntled dog, “Riku, we have to keep quiet. We don’t know who’s out here and we don’t want any run-ins in such a tight space—”

All traces of earlier obedience gone, Riku barked again.

“Shit. Seriously, please,” Tooru whispered a little more urgently, the sound of footsteps shuffling through fallen leaves getting closer and closer even when he and Tobio were rooted to their own spots. He held onto Riku’s body, tried to usher them away. “Okay, you know what, let’s just leave, we need to leave—”

Riku pushed against his hold, barked even more.

“No, no, no, no—this is bad.” Tooru bit his lip, looked up at Tobio whose face was locked in a helpless cringe. “Tobio, we need to go. You need to carry Riku.”

“What? Why me?”

Tooru glared as he shook his wrists.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Tobio said, cringe deepening at the dangling and clinking of chains, setting Tooru’s backpack on the ground and moving forward to reach for Riku. “But take your bag back; I can’t carry everything.”

How the hell he was supposed to carry anything like a backpack while he was stuck in unjust captivity (no, he was never going to let that go), Tooru had no idea, but he picked his bag up by a single strap anyway, held it in his arms and hugged it against his body in the same way that Tobio was attempting to do to Riku, still raging for a reason that was getting closer and closer, a reason they were about to discover.

A reason that came in the form of a happily smiling face popping out from behind the nearby tree and holding a lamp, one that managed to weasel an abrupt intake of breath from Tobio and to effectively stop the beating of Tooru’s heart.

Miya Atsumu’s smile was feral.

“Well, well, look who we have here,” he said, squeezing himself even closer to the group in the already tightly-packed space, and Tooru found himself meeting the gesture halfway, if only to keep Riku out of harm’s way. “Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio, and just the little bastard I was looking for.”

He peered over Tooru’s shoulder. “The dog’s yours?”

“No,” Tobio immediately said, but Tooru felt his hold around Riku tighten anyway. “We just found him.”

“Uh-huh, and would you care to tell me why the two of you are down here in such a sketchy area? Together?” His smile broadened, and Tooru wanted to wipe it off his face and then burn the towel. “I thought you guys were, I don’t know, rivalling or something. Or have you formed some secret ‘alliance’ that only you know about?”

“No,” Tobio said quickly, again.

“Ew,” Tooru said at the same time, though something stirred inside of him, saying otherwise.

“Whoops. Sorry, just guessing,” Miya said, recoiling and holding his hands up, but he didn’t look apologetic in the least. The expression wasn’t likely something that had ever crossed his face. “So, anyway, if the dog isn’t yours, then I suppose you wouldn’t mind me borrowing him for an extended, indefinite period of time, would you?”

Over Tooru’s dead body. “Is he yours?” he asked.

“Hmm, no, but we recently got acquainted. Just a few hours ago, actually. Me and the boys were out on a little hunt and we found him at our base camp, having all _sorts_ of fun with our stuff. Basic life necessities included.”

The bark that followed echoed painfully in Tooru’s ears, and he winced, resisted the urge to look the dog in the eye and study its intentions. The Riku that Tooru had been interacting with seemed nothing but tamed, a little radical at times but obedient and sensible nonetheless. He didn’t seem the type of dog that would mess with other people’s possessions just for the fun of it.

But whether or not that was true didn’t matter. Tooru met Miya’s relaxed yet naturally-hostile eyes. “So you were looking for him.”

“Yeah. I mean, I know he’s a sweet little pupper, so cute and innocent and all, but troublemakers are troublemakers. And we can’t just let troublemakers roam free. You understand, don’t you? Anyone who’d inconvenience your alliance is automatically an enemy, right? You _are_ a leader.”

That was true, but Tooru took a step back anyway, the lack of space urging Tobio, Riku still in his arms, to do the same. “There are some things I’m willing to make an exception for,” he responded.

“Ah. Well.” Miya stepped out from behind the tree, hung his lamp on the butt of a club poking out from inside of his backpack (how the hell had Tooru not seen that earlier?), sharply pulled out a pair of blades from the sheathes by his belt, quite delighted by Tooru’s sudden flinch as the tips swung right by his eyes. “Guess we aren’t so alike then.”

Tooru eyed the twin daggers just inches away from his stomach and looked into the wickedly-amused gaze of the one wielding them. Miya Atsumu’s borderline monstrous skill wasn’t a secret to anybody, especially not Tooru who’d been itching to reach his level for a good few months now, but they’d never sparred. Tooru had no idea what he was like one on one, and this was the absolute worst place and situation to find out.

"You said that you and your alliance were out here," Tooru asked, lightly kicking Tobio in the shin as inconspicuously as he could. He felt Tobio move away, heard Riku growl. "They’re not with you right now?"

"Good observation! No, they’re not. They sent me ahead to go and look for our little pal over here so that I could go be annoying somewhere else, or something."

The news was only pleasant before Miya cocked his head to the side, raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask? Wanna meet them? They should be on their way now, but I can signal them to come faster if you want. Looks like Tobio-kun over there’s in a bit of a hurry."

Tooru felt his hands quiver briefly, hyper aware of the absence of Tobio’s warmth by his back but the abrupt stop of his gradual, patterned, retreating steps. "No," he said, as calmly as he could. "No. No need. We’d hate to cause you trouble."

"It’s no trouble at all," Miya said, arranging his blades in such a way that they could be held with a single hand, his other one moving beneath the neckline of his shirt and taking something silver and thin in between his fingers.

A whistle.

"Go! Go, go, go, go, go!" Tooru yelled without reservation, wasting no time turning on his heel and waving frantically at Tobio before breaking into an awkward run himself, as fast as he could go given the nature of the maze they were currently moving in. Tobio was in an even more difficult position, he found, unable to get anywhere too quickly or smoothly not only because of the weight of his load but the orientation; he angled his body with difficulty, favouring getting his limbs and backpack caught on the tough tree branches so that Riku’s head and tail wouldn’t have to. It would have been pretty heart-warming, to be honest, if not for the awful, low-frequency buzzing that resounded from where Miya was, almost soundless but grating to the human ears.

And even more so to animals’, apparently, because as the noise reached him, Riku howled, squirmed, thrashed around, caused Tobio to come to a stop.

"Riku," Tooru heard him say as he slowed his own running; he kept a tight hold on the dog but was visibly struggling with Riku’s erratic movements and paws smacking everything including Tobio’s face, "Riku, we’re trying to run. Please stay still so I don’t drop you, please. Please."

Riku was in no mood to heed instruction. He continued his wriggling and Tobio could only try and keep moving even while keeping him under control. It wasn’t until the buzzing disappeared that he fell limp, tried and exhausted, ears falling flat over his head.

With one quick inhale and no complaints, Tobio returned to his previous pace.

And for good measure. The end of the whistle could only mean the fulfilment of its purpose, and sure enough, all sorts of shoes scuffling through leaf and soil almost mechanically were echoing in Tooru’s ears, moving closer and closer without stopping, without much time passing. He sped ahead but couldn’t move too far, not when Tobio and the object of the hostility’s interest were going to end up lagging behind.

He slowed to a jog. "Tobio," he breathed. "Maybe you should let him run ahead."

"What? He’s too fast for us. What if he goes somewhere we can’t follow?" Tobio protested despite how laboured his breathing already was.

"Well, it’d be better than the both of you getting caught because you can’t run any faster than this!"

The look on Tobio’s face was absolutely affronted. "Fine," he spat, but instead of letting Riku run free, he seemed to embrace him even tighter, adjusted his position even while running so he was further curled up. "You want faster? I’ll give you faster."

"That’s not what I—"

But Tobio was already heading off, sprinting at a speed that could only be attempted in a free space, a track oval perhaps, and turning into a speck that could only be vaguely monitored from afar. Tooru allowed himself only a moment to gawk, already-slow jog regressing into a walk as he watched Tobio’s parts painfully knocking into trunk after trunk and yet his entirety pressing forward despite the probable pain, and then he sped off after at nearly the same speed even without the guidance of Tobio’s light, squeezing his eyes shut at every gap he surged through and hoping that Tobio was better at this than he was.

The rushing footsteps expertly running through the forest that could only have been the rest of the Inarizaki alliance vanished, blended with Tooru’s own urgent steps. It didn’t help; Tooru could only imagine how much of an advantage those assholes had over him, how much better they knew the area, how many directions from whence they could be coming, closing in on him, and Tobio and Riku somewhere out there. But his only option was to keep running, hopeful for an escape but prepared for a fight when the need came up.

And come up, it did, when a body flew in from Tooru’s left and deliberately crashed into him. Collectively they fell through a narrow space and onto the hard ground, Tooru getting the worse end of the deal with his head landing against a patch of stones, his vision turning blurry with stars and his hearing interrupted by static. His groan was muffled and fuzzy in his own ears and one from the other person was non-existent. In fact, they seemed wholly prepared, their dark eyes that Tooru could see through the flashlight in their breast pocket narrowed with concentration with some fucked up trace of excitement. They pulled a blade out of who knew where, thrust it down without thought or hesitation.

Tooru’s hands seemed to fly up on instinct, accidentally and yet conveniently catching the weapon with his chains and managing to wrestle it away from his face. He threw a reckless punch right as his attacker withdrew, equally recklessly blocked the hits that threatened to come his way after, tried not to react to the throbbing of his head and his heavily-injured hand as a clean blow finally found its way to his nose.

"Suna!" said a deep voice from somewhere leagues away, but close enough to bring Tooru’s current opponent to attention. "Dog first, people later."

‘Suna' directed an icy stare towards him, let his lips curl into a cold smile that was even more frightening than his glare, and then lightly hopped to his feet and fled the scene, leaving Tooru to his aching in the dark.

But not even aching could keep Tooru down for too long. ‘Dog first, people later’ didn’t exactly spell anything better than what had already been laid out, and like hell Tooru was going to let Inarizaki have their way with Riku, never mind that they’d only found him shortly ago. He sat up, took a moment to catch his breath and stare around.

Between the absolute lack of sun and his hazy vision, Tooru couldn’t see a thing, even more so than after Tobio had so stupidly run off with their light. He groped around for his backpack, discarded after the little ambush, and groped some more inside of it to fish out his own phone. And once he’d managed to flip the torch light on, he followed Suna’s example and moved on, settled for cursing out the stinging in his palm and the back of his head as he went.

Difficult as it was, Tooru made it a point to move as quickly yet quietly as possible, adamant not to lose the distant sound of running and Miya’s loud yammering he was still straining his ears for, with no other way to track where Tobio and Riku could possibly be. If they managed to make it out of the forest even without Tooru then that was fine, that was good, but something in the pit of his stomach maintained a constant state of sour. It wasn’t difficult to think otherwise.

The air was getting colder, the sweat sticking to the skin of his back only made things more unpleasant, and his vision had only minimally unfogged, the objects around him seeming to tip slightly every now and again. He could distinctly smell blood, almost as if it was right by his nose, but he had no time to examine his injuries. He hobbled forward, stopping for nothing, even after his only leads had long since disappeared.

Fortunately, it seemed they weren’t very far off. Tooru didn’t hear any more running but he could hear several different voices, speaking one after the other, and evidently, one of them was Miya’s and another was Tobio’s. From what Tooru could hear the conversation didn’t seem hostile, but he crouched down anyway, crept instead of walking, made sure to conceal himself as best he could behind the cover of trees but still ready for anything.

But concealment wasn’t a problem. The members of Inarizaki weren’t even facing his direction. Instead, they all seemed to be staring up at a wall of soil and rock and talking up at it. Keeping most of his body behind his cover, which turned out to be a bunch of trees, alarmingly fallen to the ground for who knew what reason, Tooru leaned in for a closer look, made a face almost immediately.

There was a high elevation on that flat wall, apparently, a tiny platform that looked ready to give out and slide down any second now, and on it was Tobio, wielding his gun and a miniature ballistic shield, all the while keeping a very angry Riku from launching himself at the audience below. The dog looked unharmed, thank god, but Tobio looked like a wreck, putting it nicely, his wounds from the encounter with Shiratorizawa now accompanied by cuts and bruises—simply put— _everywhere_ on his body.

It almost made Tooru feel sorry for him, but all of that was chased away by pure irritation the moment he heard Miya’s laugh.

“Tobio-kun, I don’t want to have to kill you under these circumstances because that would be pretty lame,” he said, “so really, you should get down from there and just hand our guy over. Are you even a dog person?”

Tobio kept his gun and shield up. “I’m not good with animals,” he admitted, and Miya let out another one-syllable laugh. “But I don’t want them hurt either. And Oikawa-san—”

“‘Oikawa-san’?” Miya repeated malignantly, and Tooru himself felt mocked, scowled. He was going to rearrange this guy’s face to make sure his name never crossed those filthy lips again. “Why do you care what he thinks? He’s not even here right now, and as far as I saw back there, he was leaving you to do all the work.”

“Well, I do have him hand-cuffed.”

Tooru bit his lip to keep from snorting.

“Fair enough. But where is he now? He let himself lag behind and he isn’t coming over to help you, is he? Does he really care about this dog as much as you think he does?”

And then he blinked—at all of the alliance members standing before him, at Tobio high on the platform. None of them could see him. None of them knew that Tooru was here. Last they saw, he’d fallen and hit his head on some rocks where Suna had attacked him. They didn’t know whether he’d gotten up or not. For all they knew, he could’ve run off in another direction to save his own skin.

“Hm,” Tobio said, eyes narrowing, “I’m sure he cares about the dog, but I _was_ trying to kill him before this.”

A corner of Tooru’s lips turned up, and he unzipped his bag as quietly as was humanly possible. _Perfect._

“There’s your answer, then,” Miya continued. “You’re all alone here so you’re free to make your own decisions. I’m trying to be reasonable with you so that you know that we’re not your enemies. For now. So just lend us your friend and you’re free to go. We’ll even show you the way out of this forest. Good deal, right?”

“I don’t understand why we can’t just shoot that tiny cliff and grab them both,” someone else said.

“Come on, Osamu, Tobio-kun is a friend—” Tooru looked up from his scavenge to raise an eyebrow at the back of Miya’s head “—and I don’t want to have to resort to unrewarded violence with friends. But of course, all of that’s gonna change if he doesn’t get down here and bring the dog with him, so Tobio-kun, if you would please not waste any more of our time?”

Tooru licked his lips, squinted at the dark inside of his backpack to speed his search up, prayed that Tobio would have the sense not to surrender, or perhaps keep talking to buy them both some time, intentional or not.

But for a while he didn’t say anything. His hesitation weighed heavy, even from where Tooru was crouched. “But what—” Yes, good, talk, _just a little more, Tobio._ “What are you really going to do with him?”

The crowd’s groans rose up like weary souls. “Atsumu,” someone whined.

“Yeah, okay, it’s kinda cute, but also kind of annoying.” Tooru was going to show _him_ cute. “Sorry, Tobio-kun, you lost your chance. We’ll be dragging you down now.”

_Got it._

At Miya’s last syllable, Tooru rose to his feet, hurtled his small metallic ball forward. And not a second after it landed, not a second after the _bang_ like cannon fire rang out, all the suddenly-immobile bodies of Inarizaki fell to the ground.

“Wh—” he heard Tobio say, but the continuation was completely drowned out by Riku’s excited, celebratory barking. Proud of himself and yet unable to form a charming enough smile, Tooru stretched and properly caught his breath, straightening up only when Tobio had finally skidded down off the wall with Riku and his paraphernalia all in his arms.

“You came back?” Tobio asked.

Tooru didn’t like his tone of voice and made that known by frowning, no matter how glad he felt that Tobio had been reliable enough not to let Riku take any damage. He’d done well, but Tooru would’ve killed him if he hadn’t. “Don’t get the wrong idea,” he snapped. “Just because _you_ need to go drop dead, doesn’t mean Riku has to die with you. I came back for him, not you. Got it?”

As if he hadn’t heard any of the words Tooru had hurled at him or the contempt that came with them, Tobio heaved a sigh of relief, face evidently at peace. “Got it,” he answered, directing his gaze down at the unmoving figures on the ground. He lightly kicked one of them. “I can’t believe you had a stun bomb. Why couldn’t you have used it earlier?”

“I am so sorry, Tobio, for not searching through my backpack in complete darkness for a tiny black bomb,” Tooru deadpanned, “truly sorry. And anyway, when would I have used it back there? It was too tight; we would’ve gotten caught up in it. Now, more importantly, is Riku okay? Did he get hurt at all?”

“No, he’s fine.” As if in response to Tooru’s expression of concern, Riku bounded towards him, tongue hanging out. “Your nose is bleeding, though.”

“Okay—what?” Tooru stopped, brought his fingers above his lips and found them coated in red almost immediately. He grimaced, hastily wiped the blood off with his sleeve. “Ugh, damn whoever that Suna person is. Damn it.”

“Your hand’s bleeding pretty badly too,” Tobio said, as if the ugly, dried streaks of red and dark brown on Tooru’s terribly-bandaged (toweled, more like) hand weren’t entirely his fault. “Do you wanna maybe put a better bandage on it?”

“I do not need your concern, thank you very much,” Tooru stubbornly said, hugging his dirty hands close to his chest as best as he could with how worn-out his arms were and how much heavier the cuffs were getting. He could feel the warmth seeping through the front of his shirt. It only reminded him of how cold it was, how light-headed he was. He shuddered, picked up his backpack, sent a light pat on Riku’s head when it rubbed against his tired legs. “We need to get out of here before these assholes wake up and realize I’m still here.”

“You wanna maybe search them for a map or something?”

Tooru exhaled heavily. “Uh, sure, but can you do it? I’m kind of—uh, I mean, you need to make it up to me! So you’ll be doing all of the work from now on. And make it snappy. You never know when the stun’ll wear off.”

Tobio complied, but before he bothered to actually look at the backpacks he was working with, he kept his gaze locked on Tooru—something the latter was quick to turn away from. “Are you okay, Oikawa-san?”

“Don’t ask me that; it’s more disgusting than my bleeding hand.”

That shut Tobio up, but the discomfort that crawled across all of Tooru’s muscles and skin and bones wasn’t so easily driven away. He kept his face hidden to anyone and anything besides Riku, whom he had gotten on his knees to wrap in a consolatory embrace. The sweet little boy blinked at him, licked his cheek, rubbed their noses together as if he knew how Tooru felt better than Tooru himself did, and all at once, Tooru had no regrets. Dogs were worth dying for, he decided. It was no wonder everyone in Seijoh had gotten so attached to Kyoutani in such a short time.

Wait, what was he saying? Tooru took a deep breath, lightly squeezed Riku’s body one last time and then patted his cheeks before getting up to check on Tobio.

He had his hand and stare deep in one of the men’s backpacks, his eyebrows knitted even more than usual. He seemed to realize that Tooru was finally looking at him and sent a brief glance up. “It doesn’t look like they have any maps. Maybe they have some on their phones, but I don’t know the passcodes.”

"Do they at least have—I dunno, pocket wi—" Tooru’s heart stopped at the sudden twitch of one of the fallen men’s legs. "Okay, no, never mind. We need to go before they wake up, let’s go."

He grabbed his backpack and headed off in a randomly-selected direction, Riku and Tobio obediently on his tail like two different species of pets. Tobio would make an awful pet, probably. He’d be the kind that was trained but not trained enough and excellent at being an asshole, but no doubt cute and cuddly during moments you would least expect it—

Wait, what was he saying.

Tooru shuddered as he carried on. The cold was becoming unbearable and unlike in the winter or a storm, he couldn’t completely blame it on the weather. His skin and his exhale were both hotter than normal, and his eyes were staying open only out of desperation, heavy like he hadn’t gotten any sleep in days. And the rest of him was just a lost cause; he didn’t stop himself laughing lightly as he stumbled, his cheek ending up squished against the billion and third tree.

"Oikawa-san?" came Tobio’s voice from behind him, accompanied by Riku’s whimpering.

"I...am fine," Tooru breathed out.

"Uh, shouldn’t you do something about your wound at least? If it gets infected and you get a fever out here, we’re not gonna be able to do anything about it."

"I said I’m fine," Tooru insisted, removing himself from the comfort of the rough and chilly tree trunk and making an effort to stand upright. It mostly worked.

"You already look like you—"

"Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were Doctor Kageyama now. Did you get a degree while I wasn’t looking?" What the hell was he saying. Tooru pinched his lips shut, shook his head. "Look, what’s most important right now is that we create as much distance between us and those guys as possible. Me treating my injuries will mean nothing if we’ll be dead in a few hours. Let’s move."

This time, Tobio had no complaints, but Tooru willed himself to turn away from Riku’s sympathetic whimper. A few steps away, he heard Tobio whisper, "Yeah, he’s an ass," and Riku respond with a low whine, but he settled for an internal flipping of a middle finger instead, knowing that if he tried to turn around he’d fall on his face and straight asleep.

They walked on, Tooru very severely feeling like shit but still managing not to trip over his own feet. He attempted to check the time once somewhere along the way, only to end up blinded by the brightness of his phone screen, recoiling with a groan and shut eyes and nearly dropping the thing altogether. His eyes watered the more he tried he gets the lids to rise, but he knew they couldn’t stop moving.

He cracked them open slightly and watched the weird purple or orange or gross green shapes dance around in the blackness. "Tobio," he called, feeling his way around with his shoulders. "What time is it?"

"Uhh, almost ten."

Almost ten! People had been trying to kill him for about seven hours. He hadn’t eaten in nearly ten. How long had they been walking? What time were they going to stop? Were they ever going to stop?

Tooru groaned, shivered.

"Oikawa-san, I think we’re far enough," Tobio said, the words accompanied by a single confident bark from Riku. A sign of agreement. Such a smart dog Riku was. So smart. "You look like you could use some sleep."

"You look like you could use some—" Oh, what was he saying now? "—moisturizer, but you’re not getting that either."

There was an incredulous pause that Tobio had probably used to make a face. "Stop being so stubborn. It’s not a crime to rest."

"Okay, so say I rest," Tooru said without stopping or turning around. "I’d be unconscious, and then what? You gonna slit my throat in my sleep? Huh? Is that your angle in all this?"

"If I wanted to slit your throat, I could easily do it now and you’d die saying stupid shit."

That did it. Tooru frowned, took one last step, slowly spun around to glare at Tobio’s battered and stern face.

"I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re kind of acting like an idiot right now," Tobio said. "Now are you gonna lie down or do you wanna just wait for your body to collapse and your head to hit something even harder than what it already has?"

Tooru knew it. He was terribly sick. It was the only explanation to the rare phenomenon science had labelled: ‘Kageyama Tobio making sense and being right’. He took deep breaths, lost himself in Riku’s adorable and somehow sympathetic expression.

"Fine," he said. "But if I die—Riku, if he kills me, kill him too."

He barked.

"Good boy."

Tobio had scoured around after that and eventually found a space large enough for Tooru to at least curl up in, and now that his outer and inner selves had both found peace with the idea of sleeping a while, it was impossible for Tooru to do otherwise. The soil was littered with crushed leaves and clad with insects and a backpack full of survival gear and weaponry was the worst possible pillow, but he had neither the inclination nor the energy to complain, to do anything, really, other than sink to his knees and lay his head down and permit his body to stop moving.

What this bed lacked was a blanket though. The chill of the deep night plus the lack of heat in Tooru’s own system was a lot to take in all at once, and when he’d tried shrinking further into himself and still felt like a fresh icicle, a cola-flavoured snow cone, Tooru whined, weakly stretched an arm out.

"Blanket," he feebly said.

"What? We don’t have one."

"Make one…"

"Are you serious?" Tooru’s lack of an answer allowed him to hear the sound of Tobio’s boots moving against the ground. "Uhh. Ugh, I don’t have anything."

Riku woofed at him.

"Riku!" Tooru cried immediately, holding both his arms up now. "Riku, come here! Come! Be my blanket, please?"

Like the good boy he was, Riku yipped one more time before padding over, taking a moment to sniff at Tooru’s ruined hand before settling right by his chest.

"Yay..." Tooru slowly brought his arms down, closed them around his teddy bear for the night, and what a perfect bear he was. He nuzzled his face against the soft fur, pulled the warm and cozy body closer to his own. Riku made a small noise that only brought a peaceful smile to Tooru’s face. "You and I are gonna have the sleep of a lifetime, buddy. Just you wait. Just you wait."

"Oikawa-san," Tobio said.

"Just you wait."

"You actually have to _sleep_ to be able to have the sleep of a lifetime."

"Do you hear something, Riku? Like the sound of annoying kouhai? I don’t hear anything right now." Tooru further buried his face in the ocean of soft to drown out Tobio’s sigh. “You’re so warm, I just wanna hug you forever.” He could hear his own voice getting quieter, getting dreamier the more he spoke. “Let’s have sleepovers like this all the time. Sleepovers with movies and gossip and ice cream and secrets. Just you and me, no annoying kouhai.”

The exasperated sigh that followed after sounded like a relaxing gust of wind, and Tooru let his eyes close, kept close watch of the multi-coloured circles floating around behind his eyelids. “Annoying kouhai,” he sighed into Riku’s fur. Why were the words at the tip of his tongue again? Either way, they brought faded images into his mind, of a little boy hovering around him, a pest but a kind of cute one. “He was really small back then...really small...like a bug...”

Riku let out a small ‘boof’, and Tooru smiled, hummed. “Sometimes I kinda wanted to squish him." Who was he talking to again? "He was so annoying...asking for advice and techniques and stuff like that. But...”

His body felt like it was floating in space, personally being lifted by gravity and then being set comfortably set down in an empty space, a young Tobio wearing the school jacket blinking up at him. As he opened his mouth to speak, their old sparring arena materialized around them, and Tobio’s voice bounced against the walls.

_(“Oikawa-san, that kick was awesome!”)_

“If you looked into his eyes, you wouldn’t be able to do anything.” Tooru didn’t know who was prodding him for these opinions, or why they wanted to know so badly, but the words left his mouth fluidly, naturally, like someone was coaxing them out. “They looked like they could kill you with how bright they were. They were like...diamonds…”

"Oikawa-san?"

Blue diamonds that wouldn’t go away, that Tooru could always see even from afar, that were looking at him all wide and sparkling no matter what. His body felt light but he felt himself getting fed up, by the dazzle and by that courteous voice and demeanour, could feel the muscles of his face straining into a frown he didn’t want to have on. He could feel himself, suddenly small, fourteen, stomping towards the boy with the diamonds, could feel his fist getting yanked away, could feel a burning in his throat as he yelled.

_(“Stop asking me! Stop asking me to teach you! Don’t you get it? We aren’t friends. You don’t have any. Everyone here is your enemy, and we’re all going to kill each other eventually, so I’m not supposed to help you. You’re my enemy, and one day when we fight_ — _”)_

“I’m going to beat you!”

That was the last time he ever saw the diamonds; the Tobio before him grew much taller, suddenly older, fifteen, and his eyes were dark to match the expression on his face.

“Now they’re gone. They disappeared. The twinkle’s gone,” Tooru whispered, squirming, pulling a nearby lump of fur even closer, tighter. Why there was a lump of fur beside him, he didn’t care. All he knew was that his chest was heavy, crushed by a longing for that little boy with the big dreams and untrained but good-natured smile.

He didn’t know what happened. He’d left Tobio behind still a visibly satisfied person, someone who looked at people and not glared, someone with a plain face but not angry. And yet when he’d seen him next, he was everything but how Tooru had last seen him, was excelling like no one had excelled before but all alone, nobody that mattered proud of what he’d achieved.

“The twinkle’s gone," he said again, "and I think it’s my fault.”

If he hadn’t yelled what he did, maybe Tobio could have valued friendship. If he’d shown a little bit of support, maybe Tobio could’ve worked better with others. If he’d just let his fear get overtaken by the more pleasant emotions, the ones he’d denied, the ones that never left, maybe it wouldn’t have taken them a decade and a murder attempt to speak again.

He felt his body sink into a hole he couldn’t see, felt his already frail awareness slipping, and the last things he heard right as he was swallowed by the vast nothingness of slumber were his own voice, still making words he couldn’t decipher for himself, and the sound of someone's boots moving against the ground.

 

“I need you to keep an eye on him while I look around for water and things, okay? Can you do that? I’m gonna trust you on this one. Bark if something happens.”

 

Tooru awoke with no idea how he could possibly tell whether or not it was morning. Through his closed eyes, he couldn’t see any kind of light that corresponded to the sun, and he briefly wondered whether the windows were working before he remembered that he wasn’t anywhere in which windows were a thing. Beds as well, he realized when he shifted in place and felt the zipper of his backpack front pocket slide against his cheek.

And then it came crashing back all at once: he was on the ground, feverish, because he’d narrowly-escaped a round of Cat and Mouse (or Dog and Assholes) with Inarizaki, after narrowly-escaping the wrath of Shiratorizawa, after not-so-escaping the murderous intentions of Kageyama Tobio.

He was already grimacing as he opened his eyes.

Everything felt stuffy, downright uncomfortable, from the hardness and texture of his not-bed to the heat in his extremities resembling that feeling borne out of sweating a fever out. He supposed it made sense, but that wasn’t any consolation. He’d basically held onto Riku the entire night as well. He hoped he didn’t sweat all over the poor thing.

The lighting was a little better than last night’s, and so Tooru could see that he looked fairly clean, happily trotting around what spaces he could move through, barking a little softer than usual when he caught Tooru looking at him. Tooru sent him a warm smile despite the ringing in his ears and the weird tingling sensations on his sick, sensitive skin, held up a single hand to usher the dog closer and give him a nice morning pet.

A single hand. Before Riku could interpret his instruction, he was taking it back, entire body twitching, and he was glaring hard at his oddly more comfortable wrists. The handcuffs were gone.

Flabbergasted, Tooru brought both his hands to his eyes and rubbed vigorously, half-expecting to stop and see that his release from minor imprisonment was nothing more than a hallucination. But his hands were unbound no matter how many times he blinked and waited for the cuffs to reappear, and it seemed his fever had gone down enough to do away with the hysterical behaviour.

It didn’t help him believe any better, though, that the crudely-wrapped cloth around his hand dirtied with dried blood was also gone, replaced with fresh bandages—actual, legitimate bandages—clearly neatly and carefully done, just the way Seijoh’s meticulous Yahaba liked to do them. And call him crazy, but the air smelled distinctly of medicine.

What the fuck.

Closer inspection of the surrounding areas eventually brought a silent Tobio to Tooru’s attention. He was sitting in a small gap, feet on either side of one of the narrower trees, arms crossed and eyes blinking slowly all the while staring at nothing. His own smaller wounds were also treated with the exception of his blackened eye, swelling even worse than yesterday probably from the lack of a compress. He looked mostly impassive, though, and only bothered to move when Riku stuck his snout to his elbow. He looked at Riku then, face considerably lighter and (dare Tooru say) happier, and reached out to stroke him on the head.

Tobio and his Halloween mask of a face had actually managed to charm an animal. Tooru almost recoiled in surprise.

His entire body flinched when he glanced up and found Tooru looking at him, speaking of surprise. “Oh, good—good morning, Oikawa-san,” he greeted, though he looked like Tooru had assaulted him simply by being awake.

“Is it really?” Tooru only said.

“‘Is it really’ good, or ‘is it really’ morning?”

“Both.”

“Uh, well, it’s morning.” Tobio glanced at the watch around his wrist, probably one of those blade or bullet-proof kinds. It was the only type most Slayers ever bothered to wear, anything else just a potential liability during a fight. “Almost six in the morning.”

That was a feat. Tooru had gotten just the right amount of sleep, then. That was a pretty good reason for them to get a move on, other than the fact that the effects of the stun bomb had probably long since worn off by now, but Tooru couldn’t tear his eyes away from his bare wrists.

“Why, uh.” He was going to kill himself for asking, after his ban was lifted. “Where are the, uh, handcuffs?”

Even with the unhelpful light, Tooru could clearly see Tobio’s skin paling and his eyes growing marginally wider. He swallowed. “Uhh, I thought about it last night,” he began, adjusting so that his sitting position was a lot less free. “This forest is huge, and judging from what Miya-san said yesterday, they probably know the place way better than we do. They’re going to make our lives hard from here, so...I don’t think we need to help them any more than we already have.”

He looked to Tooru’s wrists, and Tooru took a peek at his swollen eye.

“Top priority right now is getting Riku to safety, right?” Tobio continued, and thank god that he did; Tooru wasn’t sure he could survive more than five seconds of silence in such an awkward atmosphere. “So maybe it’d be better if we worked together for a while? Just until that happens? Plus, you’re sick, so you’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

“I was not sick,” Tooru mumbled.

“You sounded hysterical up until you finally fell asleep. Talking nonsense like…”

Tobio stopped to bite his lip shortly. “Anyway, it’s not important. Do we have a truce or what?” And he offered his hand.

Tooru, pushing his worry about what stupid jokes he might have made last night to the back of his mind, stared at it for far longer than he should have. It was the only obvious choice at the moment. Whatever this place was, it definitely wasn’t conducive for a smooth escape or any fair fighting chances, and turning on each other when they were literally all that they had would wound more than just measly pride. But he could never imagine himself taking Tobio’s hand in this way, or any way, and given that his life following the Kill Ban had been peaceful up until Tobio’s mask and gun had turned up, it was a difficult truce to make. Equally difficult was Tobio, if viewed in the light of a person to trust.

But in terms of trust, in all fairness, Tobio had been deserving of a pass every time the need for evaluation came up. He protected Riku even when he’d thought Tooru had abandoned them, allowed Tooru rest and didn’t hurt him in the slightest—treated his wounds, in fact. That wasn’t enough for Tooru to consider him a brother like he did the rest of the guys in his alliance, of course, but it was a couple of baby steps forward.

Towards what, Tooru wasn’t sure. But if Riku kept looking at him with those adorable, beady eyes and open mouth that looked almost like a grin, he would lose all of his inclination towards escape and just dedicate his entire being to roadside cuddling, so he had to move.

And the move he chose was to hold Tobio’s hand in his—the hand that was so ruthlessly butchered and yet generously treated all on the same day. He made a face (but he himself wasn’t sure what kind) as Riku let out a joyous series of barks. “You’re the one who started attacking me in the first place,” he said.

“And I’ll continue after all this is done,” Tobio replied, but he wasn’t letting go just yet.

Tooru preferred it that way.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have you guys ever rolled down a hill? i have for like, 10 seconds and let me tell you that is some disorienting shit if you're not doing it fast enough. my entire world crumbled. i was floating in space. my companions were laughing,
> 
> || [tumblr](http://kakkoweeb.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/diecrotic) | [writing journal](https://diecrotic.dreamwidth.org/) | [instagram bc why not](https://www.instagram.com/diecrotic/) ||


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S LONG (and unedited)
> 
> [and don't forget](http://kakkoweeb.tumblr.com/post/168329172153/fic-update-oikage-big-bang) [to look at the art](http://kakkoweeb.tumblr.com/post/168205240195/hetaliabunnyart-oddity-a-rarity-by-kakkoweeb)

The bare basics of a truce was not being at each other’s throats, and that was about all Tobio and Tooru were able to accomplish within their first few minutes. They’d decided to continue on their blind journey despite how shitty Tooru still felt, walked along with Riku trotting happily right at Tooru’s heel, spoke absolutely no words as they moved along. It wasn’t exactly a change from yesterday but now the weight of their own butchered ideals and expectations had been added into the equation and now the silence they were used to was nothing but awkward. Or at least, that was how Tooru felt. He wasn’t so sure Tobio would recognize awkward if it stabbed him in the chest.

Besides that awkwardness (and his less than good condition), all Tooru could feel swimming in his head and screaming at him were his own suspicions and distrust. He didn’t get attacked by just anybody often—and when he did, the attacker certainly didn’t live to tell the tale, let alone accompany him on some sort of dog rescue mission—but he was pretty sure that someone who’d wanted to kill him since pre-pubescence wouldn’t be content hovering around him peacefully while he was on Kill Ban, coming up with ideas of truces and even caring for him while he was sick. There was no way that Tobio truly intended to see this through till the end. It had to be part of some elaborate dirty trap.

This had been a pattern of his since his years at Novice training, he realized then. Tobio comes along appearing nothing but innocent (as innocent as he could possibly come across) and Tooru is automatically threatened, starts suspecting him of sinister plans and putting up every defense mechanism he can come up with. But he had legitimate reasons now, he told himself. It was Tobio’s entire fault that they were down here right now and his fault Tooru was still trekking his way through a fever. The doubt was grounded today. Maybe it always had been.

And like always, he wasn’t going to sit around and let it fester. "Say, Tobio," he called to Tobio mere steps ahead, figured that the conversation could double as a defense against the damn silence as well, "are you sure you’re okay with this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this whole...not fighting and all. We’re in the middle of a really compromising area, I’m sick, and I’m on Kill Ban too. Isn’t this theoretically the perfect time and place for you to deal with me?" Tooru said, then raised an eyebrow. "Or do you have somewhere better in mind?"

"You forgot to add the fact that we have Riku, and Inarizaki’s after our asses," Tobio replied, something unfamiliar sitting at the bottom of his voice. "Is this you testing me or something? I already said I’d lay off for a while. What else do you want?"

Tooru frowned. "Well, can you blame me? I was having a perfectly okay kill-less day yesterday and then you attacked me, tore my hand apart, and now we’re here in the middle of nowhere and an entire alliance wants us dead."

"You’re the one who took me to Shiratorizawa and went out the back door!"

"I would’ve died if I hadn’t!"

"Look, I wasn’t _actually_ gonna—" Tobio stopped moving, let his shoulders sag as he exhaled.

Behind him, Tooru and Riku also stopped, Riku sitting down and cocking his head to the side.

"What?" Tooru pressed.

Tobio kept silent, didn’t even bother turning around as he sighed once again. "I wasn’t actually going to kill you."

_"What?"_

"It wouldn’t have been as satisfying if you were on Kill Ban, and you said it yesterday: it’s low. Really low. And it probably wouldn’t have benefitted me much because I would’ve made it out alive regardless unless you were willing to serve a life sentence in prison, so."

Tooru didn’t believe it. He didn’t want to. "But—but you were fighting so seriously! And you _stabbed my hand."_

"Yeah, I intended to fight you seriously, but I was only going to let it get up to a point when you’d clearly surrendered. Like, I don’t know, maybe up till you basically just closed your eyes and waited for the finishing blow. And then I was gonna let you go."

_"What would’ve been the point of that?"_

"I could test," Tobio said, finally looking at him, but glancing at the ground a little too often. Tooru didn’t think he’d ever seen him look this uneasy. It was almost humbling. "I could test whether or not I was ready to challenge you up front. It was the perfect time, because you would fight me seriously but I wouldn’t be putting my life at risk."

He frowned. "I still have a long way to go, though."

He nearly won. Tobio had him pinned to a rock, was in the perfect position to finish the job and didn’t only because Tooru had taken him too seriously and resorted to cheap tricks to try and shake him off. He nearly won, nearly had it, yet here he was, saying he still had a long way to go, building up the stones of Tooru’s pedestal even when nobody was pressuring him to. A pedestal that Tooru had long since refused to believe in, he couldn’t let go of for the world.

Great. Now he had a reason to feel bad emotionally as well as physically. He sighed, scratched at his head. "Geez, couldn’t you have told me that at the start?"

"I wanted to get your raw reaction."

"Yeah, and look where that got us," Tooru said, intending to perform a wide gesture but bumping his hands against the trees in the process, but hey, his point was proven. He winced, smiling down at Riku whose barks reeked of concern, frowned at Tobio. "How did you know I’m on Kill Ban in the first place?"

"The minor that attacked you," Tobio said, turning to resume his walk, gesturing for Riku to come follow. The dog complied with a woof.

"Hinata Natsu?"

"Yeah. You know my ally Hinata, right?"

"Oh god, they’re related?"

"Siblings. The two of us train her some weekends. She’s getting really good."

"Yeah, I’ll say," Tooru bitterly said. Her form had been impeccable and the way she’d suddenly emerged from that alley and onto the roof without a ladder of any kind was still fresh in his mind. If she was getting training from her spider person of a brother and the genius Tobio then it was no wonder.

He frowned. "Wait, you didn’t tell her to get me banned, did you?"

"No. Why would we? It’s more dangerous for her than it is for you. But we asked her why she did it and she said she overheard us talking about you and got curious, since I talk about you so highly or something. Said she wanted to impress me."

Oh. Well, _somebody_ had a little crush on her older brother’s friend. Tooru wrinkled his nose despite the odd feeling inside his system (a symptom of the fever, probably), and even more so when Riku had taken a moment to look at him. "Talk about bad taste," he whispered to the dog.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, nothing."

A follow-up question had halfway left Tooru’s mouth (he wanted to hear if Tobio had, indeed, been left impressed by the little girl’s boldness) but it was killed on the spot—killed by the striking realization that he and Tobio had just shared their first semi-normal conversation for the first time in years, just moments after some of the most awkward of Tooru’s young life. It was...fair, as conversations went. The topic hadn’t veered too far from their current context and they still weren’t casual exactly, but it was a start. Five out of ten. Not too shabby.

But pretty weird, and ten times the awkward now that Tooru was left alone to his thoughts. Maybe they should stay away from the talking for a while.

They continued on, Tooru very impatient to note that their way didn’t change in the slightest. They passed gap after gap, tree after tree, and if he were any less sane, a little bit more like his self from last night, sickly and giddy, he would probably accuse Tobio of walking them in circles. They only had a single light on now—Tooru’s, because Tobio’s had been on nearly all night apparently, lord knew why (Tooru couldn’t really remember anything after he’d called Riku towards him)—because the sun was high in the sky, better able to penetrate the closed dome of a forest, and it was a lot warmer but still to no ends disgusting. Tooru in particular felt rather dirty, caked in blood and mud and battle scars. There probably wasn’t a river to wash up in either.

There was, however, a bright light up ahead.

Tooru felt like rejoicing at the sight of it, once he’d made sure that it wasn’t another manifestation of Miya Atsumu’s goddamn lamp. “Tobio, is that—”

“I think we made it to the end,” Tobio cut in without meaning to, turning around as if especially to show Tooru the eagerness in his eyes for too short a time, and then quickly picking up the pace, letting his eagerness show in his frantic movements instead.

“Hey, don’t leave us behind!” Tooru called, hurrying despite himself and the fever-heat of his skin, and Riku raced after Tobio in a joyful run, barking as he went. His ears and tail fell into a steady rhythm of bounce and Tobio allowed himself a grin, felt like he was chasing two variations of excited dog out of a dreary forest about to gleam with light and life again.

But as he stepped into the light he was met by an urgent, “Oikawa-san!”

And then he was nearly falling face first into another drop, nearly hundreds of feet below with a bottom he couldn’t even see, stopped only by the sheer strength in Tobio’s arm as it stretched across his chest.

Tooru shrieked as he fell backward, landing on his ass and elbows in the space he’d just come through. “ _What the_ _fuck,_ ” he cried. “How the _fuck_ did we get to the edge of the universe?”

Tobio was standing off to the right, his left arm falling back to his side and the right already carrying Riku in a less than comfortable, but still secure, hold. The land his feet could still stand on was only scarcely larger than his feet, and his pack was crushed in between his back and the tree rooted right next to Tooru’s arm. “I don’t know,” he only said, eyes glued to the nothingness below.

“Where _are_ we? Do we—do we go back?” Tooru asked as he sat up a little better.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. What direction are we going to take again if we go back? What if we just end up where we were earlier, or we run into Inarizaki?”

“So what are you suggesting?”

The silence that followed only made Tooru’s stomach sink as low as it could go, and yet it was still nothing compared to level of low they would discover if they moved any further. Tobio had his head turned away; perhaps he was looking at something to the right that Tooru didn’t have the privilege of seeing through his safe spot on the ground.

“There’s a platform over there—”

“No.”

“Oikawa-san,” Tobio warned, sending him a brief glare before facing to the right where his little platform was. “There’s a platform over there that looks like it goes somewhere other than where we’ve already been. There’s a wall beside it that looks easy enough to climb, but I can’t see where it leads."

“Uh-huh, okay, and how exactly do we get to this platform?”

“We—”

“Safely?” Tooru added.

Tobio’s frown was so exasperated it looked almost like a pout. “Listen, we’re not—we’re not automatically gonna fall the moment we try to cross...whatever this is. The ground’s still big enough for our feet so it’ll be easy if we’re careful."

"Why can’t we just head for that direction when we’re _not_ next to the void?"

"We’re not sure we’ll be able to find it deeper inside the forest. And even if we do, we’re not sure if it’ll have a rock wall we can climb.”

_"So we’re gonna go rock-climbing next to the void?"_

"Ye—no—please stop calling it the void; it’s not gonna help us. Come on, we can do this, Oikawa-san, we have balance exercises at training all the time. Yes, I know we don’t do them next to the void," Tobio added as soon as Tooru’s mouth opened, "but we can just imagine them as the same thing. We’ll be okay."

Tooru glared at him, Tobio and all his bravery and sensible suggestions that Tooru hated were right. "If someone has the capacity to stay sane during insane situations," he said, slowly, "does that make them rational or a lunatic?"

Tobio made a face. "Either way, they make progress, so it doesn’t really matter. We should go."

His vision swayed as he stood up, and he couldn’t guess whether it was an effect of his poor health conditions or if that was the sensation that came with looking hell straight in the eye. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, leaned on a tree for support. What kind of balance did Tobio expect him to have while he was like this?

"I’m going to fall," he muttered. "I’m going to be screaming in the void forever."

"No, you’re not."

"You don’t control that."

"No, but _you_ do," Tobio said, his stare intense. "I know you don’t feel well, but I’ll be here to help you if something goes wrong."

"Wow, such _confidence_ from a guy who couldn’t even get me to surrender.”

As the last of the sarcasm left his mouth, Tooru felt regret fill his system, and saw how frustration seemed to take over Tobio’s and manifested on his face. His gaze was locked on the ground, his free hand lightly curling in and out of a fist. Riku let out a whine from within his hold, but it didn’t sound like one of discomfort.

But as he lifted his head, his jaw was set harder, his face more assured than ever. "I know," he said. "I’m not as competent as I should be and that’s a good enough reason for you not to trust me. But I swear."

His eyes on Tooru’s were glinting, in a way they hadn’t for a long time. "If I let you fall," he said, "I’m bringing myself down with you."

Tooru felt chills run down his arms.

The words themselves weren’t supposed to be reassuring and Tooru definitely still didn’t have much confidence to just thoughtlessly hand over, but Tobio’s stare was earnest. Fierce, violently pushing past all of Tooru’s most prized outer mechanisms and gripping at a part of his soul nobody had searched before.

It was terrifying. Tobio was terrifying.

“Okay, yeah, I think you just answered my question earlier,” Tooru said, the haste in his getting on his feet and dusting himself just to keep Tobio out of his line of sight nothing but a damper to the mood Tobio’s seriousness had set, but that was fine. “You’re definitely a lunatic. How are we going to do this?”

“What else is there to it? We tightrope. Sort of,” Tobio replied, almost as though the last few seconds of their conversation hadn’t happened. Definitely a lunatic. “Uh, I don’t really feel comfortable holding Riku like this, though. Let me just—”

He occupied both his hands in his effort to try and provide Riku with a more comfortable alternative and Tooru only gaped, taking it upon himself to feel nauseous and sweaty for these two absolute animals with no concept of safety or fear. They looked highly content once Riku again lay parallel to the ground in Tobio’s arms.

“And how exactly are you going to climb a wall like that?” Tooru asked.

Tobio paused, blinking at nothing, and looked to their intended destination. “I think I have an idea.”

“Which is?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“ _Why._ ”

“Uhh, just because.”

Tooru nearly slapped his forehead with his bad hand, but thought better of it.

In truth, Tobio hadn’t been wrong. It was terrifying, looking down and seeing no land and nowhere to land, but the miniscule space they were traversing really _was_ nothing compared to the beams they crossed high above the ground back in Intermediate training. Tooru briefly recalled the one exam they’d taken, one where the one tasked to cross the beam would also have to deal with the rest of the class throwing tiny yet sharp objects at them, and how Iwaizumi had effectively nearly ripped his eye out with a dart while he was closer to the ceiling than to the ground. Suddenly it was easier not to be afraid.

Still, he determinedly kept his eyes up, not too scared but also not at all willing to subject himself to sights of heights and unfathomable depths. Tobio a little ahead of him was doing the same thing, though probably in an effort to keep himself from tipping forward, using his head and torso for something his hands were unable to do. Leaves from the trees roughly brushed against and eventually joined his hair the more he moved, but he knew his priorities, at least.

In his arms, Riku was almost completely still with the exception of his head and eyes moving around every now and again to take in the sights. He didn’t make a single noise, did nothing that might put Tobio in a compromising position, and it was honestly amazing how intelligent and disciplined he was despite not being attached to someone’s hip, despite probably having wandered out here by himself.

It was almost impossible to believe any of Miya’s claims of the dog trashing their base. Tooru wouldn’t rule out the possibility that he was lying just yet.

Without incident (thank god; Tooru didn’t know how well he and his unstable condition would be able to deal with any more incidents), they made it to Tobio’s acclaimed platform, Tooru able to take a good look at it only now that he was on it. The ground beneath their feet was wider now (and again, thank _god)_ and there was, indeed, a sight other than trees they could behold—a wall of rock, firm and stable, with just the right amount of flat and sharp areas to be able to climb in peace.

Assuming that they weren’t holding a dog, of course, but that didn’t apply to them. Regaining some of the bite and snark he’d lost to paranoia, Tooru crossed his arms. “So,” he said, “what’s this brilliant idea and why did it have to wait until here to be publicized?”

Tobio remained silent, holding Riku out for Tooru to take. He was as heavy as he looked and Tooru’s head wasn’t quite done feeling feather-light, but he managed not to do anything he’d immediately regret. Riku gave a small puppy-pur once he was safely in Tooru’s grasp, and Tooru wished he had a third hand to use for petting.

“Uh, so, if you notice, the wall isn’t exactly that high up,” Tobio said.

Tooru examined it further. It wasn’t much of a climb, that was true, but whatever lay at the top was still feet away from either of their heads. “What about it?”

“How tall would you say it is?”

“Huh? I don’t know; eight, ten feet? About as tall as you and me stacked—”

His breath stuttered in his chest and he looked at Tobio, glared with all the might he could muster in the hope that a harisen would materialize as a result of his gaze and slap some sense into Tobio’s hopeful, expectant, _stupid_ face. “You have got to be kidding me.”

 

A great deal of persuasion and a whole lot of yelling later, Tooru found himself before a crouched Tobio, looking up at him with those eager eyes that only seemed to surface when he had a ridiculous plan he was determined to see through. Why was he letting Tobio make all the plans anyway? Whatever happened to his sense of leadership and tactical prowess? Any semblance of rationality flew out the window where Tobio was, it seemed.

“What are you waiting for?” Tobio asked.

Tooru clutched tighter at Riku, felt like he was going to throw up and made sure that Tobio could tell through his face alone. “Do you—you _really_ expect this to work?”

“Oikawa-san, we’ve been over this.”

“Yeah, but—” Why did he even bother. He took a deep breath, briefly buried his face in the comfort of Riku’s fur. Once again, the scales were tipped against him; neither of the two lost puppies he was with had any qualms about what they were about to do. Tooru wasn’t cut out to be a babysitter. “Fine! But you’re only allowed to talk if it’s a matter of life and death.”

The very concept of this strategy was a matter of life and death, but Tobio lightly bit his lip and nodded anyway. Asshole.

With one last (I never should have left home yesterday) breath, Tooru adjusted Riku in his arms so he was splayed across his chest, stood behind Tobio and, with another last nervous breath (the other one was a lie), positioned his legs on either side of Tobio’s head, his thighs above Tobio’s shoulders, sitting himself around the back of Tobio’s neck.

Forget getting slain. Tooru’s cause of death would be embarrassment.

“Comfortable?” Tobio asked, hands on Tooru’s knees.

Tooru almost choked on his own spit. “Don’t ask me that!” he yelled, and Riku blinked in surprise as well as concern. He hated how aware he was of Tobio’s head right by his thighs; it made him want to catch fire. “We’re gonna get this over with as soon as possible and then I’m going to be kicking you in the— _WHOA, NO, NO, NO!”_

The upper half of his body swayed unsteadily as Tobio briefly attempted to stand up without his consent and all of him had tensed, arms locking themselves too firmly around Riku, earning him an urgent whine. He wheezed, panted as Tobio returned to his initial crouched state without a word.

“Are you gonna stop talking now?” he eventually asked, once it was clear Tooru wasn’t about to drop dead with blue skin.

His eyes were about to burst out of their sockets. “ _Do that again and I will_ —” He couldn’t even think of a proper threat. “I hate you so much!”

“I’m going to try and stand up now,” was all Tobio said. All that was left of Tooru’s energy could only be used for his own sense of gratitude that Tobio had actually thought to warn him this time. “For real. Hold onto me if you have to, but once you’re up, grab the rocks right away. I can’t promise we’re not gonna tip back a little—” Tooru swallowed “—but don’t panic too hard. I’ll do my best to keep you forward.”

Despite common sense and better judgment, Tooru craned his neck to take half a glance at the ridiculous drop right behind him. It was the only source of all his tension and protest (“You expect me, while carrying Riku, to _sit on your shoulders_ and boost him up; and you expect yourself to support our combined weight _on your shoulders_ as he’s boosted up, _while we’re next to the void,_ ” had been his exact words earlier on) and the thought of falling into it, not knowing what lay at the bottom, not even knowing whether anything did, had his diseased form trembling.

But none of it mattered. He was on Tobio’s shoulders, they had a truce, and Tobio himself was as idiotically confident as he was more or less a decade ago. “Fine.” The word slipped out along with a shaky breath. “I’m ready.”

He wasn’t ready, but Tobio evidently was. He only took a single, picture-perfect second to pause before he was once again rising to his feet, gradually, with only a small grunt to indicate the difficulty of his charge. He kept Tooru leaning forward as best he could, as promised, but to the point that tipping over had nearly become guaranteed and Tooru had to hold Riku up with one hand as his other instinctively grasped at Tobio’s hair, a little tighter than what was permissible perhaps, but Tobio didn’t complain. Tooru didn’t think the word was in his vocabulary.

A cold gust of wind slid against Tooru’s neck and he shivered, but all the cogs were coming together. He was higher than he’d ever hoped to be, close to glimpsing the top of the platform above the wall; Riku was quiet and stationary, as if he knew he had a responsibility to be in such an urgent situation; and Tobio was rasping every now and again but he was doing well, surprisingly well, and soon all three of them were standing by his two feet.

“Oikawa-san,” he croaked.

With a sharp intake of breath, Tooru brought his hand away from Tobio’s head and used it to grab onto a rock, simply to further stabilize their position, not that they needed it much. There was a slight popping in his ears but he hoisted Riku even higher once they were close enough to the ground above without complaint.

“Go on, boy, go on,” he ushered kindly, and Riku—perfection incarnate with the body of an animal—scrambled up as gracefully as was still possible despite the situation, and safely made it to the top.

Tobio wheezed after his triumphant bark. “He made it?”

“He made it,” Tooru confirmed, feeling triumphant himself.

“Do you think you can climb after him or do you want me to set you down first?”

“I think I can do it from here. Just move me a little closer to the wall so I can try and get a good foothold.”

“Will your hand be okay?”

Tooru fell silent, glanced at his injury, felt a little warm. Probably from his fever coming back again, of course. “Yeah,” he muttered. He wished Tobio would stop asking about his well-being. It made him feel weird inside. “It’ll be fine.”

Almost as if having fully-grown man on his shoulders was a piece of cake, Tobio expertly eased Tooru’s body closer towards the wall, stayed still enough to allow Tooru’s hands and feet to find good positions to take. He eased himself out from between Tooru’s legs once the latter gave the signal, never mind how weird it was that he was there in the first place, and watched as Tooru made his way to the top. At least, Tooru figured he was watching. His gaze had always been powerful in that sense, almost physical in its effects, and it was something that Tooru recognized, maybe even missed, but mostly found incredibly awkward.

The only consolation was immediately being greeted by Riku as his head and elbows reached the surface above the wall, the dog breathing rapidly the way dogs did and moving his tail. It was an excellent consolation, actually, and Tooru found all his stress fading away and his complexion feeling clearer as he reached out to touch the adorable boy before his body was even stably aground. “Aww, such a good—”

Riku abruptly turned his nose up and sniffed, barked, and ran off.

“What—” Tooru cried, slipping as he watched Riku retreat but managing to stay up, now rushing to get up. “Riku! Riku, hold on!”

“What happened?” Tobio asked from below.

“He ran off!”

“ _What?”_ Tooru barely heard the urgency in his voice, too busy dragging himself up all the while searching the thinner forest before him for any signs of brown fur and wet tongue, but all signs were gone with the wind.

Tooru frowned, impatiently alternated his glance between the path Riku may have taken and Tobio just about to make his way up.

“Go and follow him,” Tobio instructed, even without looking up. “I’ll catch up to you.”

Glad for the permission and without waiting any further, Tooru hurried off and into the new area of the forest. Riku truly was too fast for anyone’s good; despite his own trained legs and ears, Tooru still managed to lose him, couldn’t hear his footsteps stomping against the noisy ground. He stopped somewhere along the way, considered calling out for the dog to simply come back, but kept running instead the minute he thought of it. He didn’t know who or what could be waiting out here for them. They didn’t need to attract danger beyond what they were already running from.

But danger was in the job description, it seemed, and when Tooru had been greeted by a low noise and stopped to get a better listen, it wasn’t a sweet bark or dehydrated dog panting, but growling. Fierce, harsh growling, and the sound of sharp teeth gnawing against something it wasn’t used to chewing. The sound of bodies rolling around in the dirt. A tiny tinkling sound.

Tooru felt his entire body grow cold, and he couldn’t stop himself.

" _Riku?"_

He yelled it aloud, as loud as he could, and broke into a run. The wild animalistic sounds of conflict grew closer and closer the more steps he took, and his heart was beating too quickly in his chest, afraid of what he might find when he reached the end of the tunnel of trees and found their dog but he kept going, ready to bash into the wall anything that dared cause Riku any pain.

Tooru reached the source of the noise. He stopped running.

And he sucked in a bewildered breath.

What stood before him was no doubt the site of a well-set up camp—or at least it had been. The wide open space and the trees nearby were painted with scorch marks, the wood in the center of the place still smelling of old fire. Along with the leaves, trash littered the ground, but it wasn’t just empty coke bottles left out in the sun because there weren’t any bins. It looked straight out of an attack, the things laying on the floor fragments of what used to be completely usable objects. Tents, bags, a little bit of food not eaten.

And in the middle of it all was Riku, thrashing around desperately and ruthlessly chewing on a leather pouch like it murdered his family. Wild. Angry.

It was painful to watch but at the same time, Tooru couldn’t tear his eyes away. The dog didn’t acknowledge his presence in the least, too engrossed in dealing with his inanimate opponent. He wasn’t sure how long he’d stood there, listening to the zipper chiming frantically with Riku’s movement, but the next thing he knew, Tobio’s running was coming to a stop right behind him.

"What the fuck," he breathed.

Tooru didn’t look at him. "I think we just found Inarizaki’s camp."

Miya had claimed that it was damaged, and if this was indeed once Inarizaki’s temporary base, then he hadn’t been lying. Tooru’s initial assumption hadn’t included a wreckage of this degree, considering Riku was the object of blame, and part of him still refused to believe that their dog had done all of this by himself; and yet another part told him to watch as said dog mercilessly tore his way through a bag that was hardly harming anyone and reconsider.

Tobio seemed just as baffled as Tooru was as he took slow steps towards the scene. “You mean Riku did this?”

“Well.” Tooru gestured to the one-sided battle currently taking place. “I think this should be proof enough. Whose even is that? Is it safe for him to be putting in his mouth?”

As if it wasn’t a carnivorous, currently ravenous animal that was laying waste to a piece of processed leather in front of him, Tobio rashly walked up to Riku and knelt next to his general location (his exact one changed every second or two) and held out a hand. “Riku, what is that? Give it here.”

Fortunately (yet sort of underwhelmingly), Riku hadn’t gone animal on Tobio and bitten his hand off. Immediately, he stopped his writhing about and whimpered instead, looked at Tobio with bright, innocent, _aw, so cute!_ eyes and let the pouch settle in his mouth before reluctantly dropping it back to the ground.

And as if the thing wasn’t completely covered in dog slobber, Tobio picked it up. That part wasn’t so cute.

Riku started barking at once, violently and without cease, levelling his head with the pouch Tobio held up, never once taking his eyes off of it. Tooru’s brows wrinkled, made his way towards them and crouched next to Riku, stroking his head. His advance wasn’t rejected, but it didn’t seem to help.

“I don’t get it. What’s wrong with him?” Tobio asked, moving the pouch around, watching Riku’s head and vision diligently follow it.

“Maybe he wants to open it,” Tooru suggested, watching as well, remembering the times that Iwa-chan (the dog, not the brute) had barked at the door knob waiting for him to twist it, barked at the neighbour’s turkey when he wanted to approach it.

Tobio frowned. “But how does he know what’s inside?” he asked, but he was still pulling the zipper open anyway. Halfway through the gesture, Riku found a better use for his mouth, biting at the rim of the opened pocket and dragging it away from Tobio as best he could, something Tobio was too quick to let slide.

“Whoa.” He gently snatched the thing back, stood up so that Riku would be too short to steal it back. Tooru frowned at Riku’s sudden jump, placing his paws needily on Tobio’s stomach, before he stood up himself. And by then, Tobio had his eyes narrowed at the inside of the bag. “What is this?”

 _This_ was a small metal cube, coloured in an ugly and faded shade of brown, the only thing sitting inside the pouch along with a whole lot of foam. It was only almost the size of Tooru’s palm, warm on his fingertips, and weighed way less than he’d expected as he picked it up.

He placed it back in the pouch, made a face at it. “I have no idea.”

Riku seemed to be the only one who did, but he could only bark at Tobio and attempt and fail to climb him and reach his prize.

“Well, if Riku hates it and it’s by Inarizaki’s ruined camp,” Tobio said, absent-mindedly touching Riku’s paws constantly moving against his torso, “then shouldn’t that be reason enough for us not to have anything to do with it?”

Tooru stared at Riku, still whining every now and again, still straining to get to the bag and, probably, the odd cube inside it. He wouldn’t exactly say Riku hated it. In fact, he seemed pretty adamant to touch it, or take it with him, so much that he was ready to grind its container into dust with his own teeth. Of course, there was the possibility that he wanted to destroy it, but if he simply wanted to be rid of it, there were always other means.

That was giving Riku’s intelligence a lot of credit, though. He supposed it wouldn’t be so bad to put it to the test.

He reached for the cube once again, making sure not to let his skin come in contact with the wet pouch, and held it in his fist. The edges were hard and didn’t feel completely closed off, but that didn’t matter right now. What did matter was that Riku’s attention was moving from Tobio to Tooru in a matter of seconds.

“Do you not like this, boy?” Tooru asked, waving the cube a little closer to Riku’s face. His whine wasn’t much of an answer. Tooru raised it higher. “Do you want me to—” He held it over his head, ready to hurl it away with all his strength “—get rid of it?”

Riku entered into another fit of barks, even louder than the one earlier, and Tooru brought his arm back down, wincing. “Okay, okay, I won’t get rid of it,” he assured, exhaling when the fit came to an end. Well, now he knew Riku definitely didn’t hate it, but why did he want it so much?

“Oikawa-san!”

Tobio’s voice was suddenly hushed and urgent, a mere murmur compared to Riku’s animal noises, but Tooru heard it perfectly. He inattentively placed a hand softly on Riku’s snout, still held the cube securely in his other, and Riku quieted instantly, planting all four of his feet flat on the ground and blinking up at both of them as if waiting for instruction.

He was such a smart dog, such a good boy, but Tooru had neither the time nor the naiveté to gush. There was a rustling coming from the other side of the glade, rustling that no doubt came from footsteps, accompanied by words and voices that still sounded only barely distant. And only for now.

They couldn’t wait for them to get any closer. “Hide!” Tooru hissed, the fierceness of his own voice sending a ripple through his feather-light head, tip-toeing quietly yet quickly out of the open space and behind some shrubs, Tobio and Riku following suit and somehow doing so just in the nick of time—right as several heads came into view directly across them.

The owners of the ruined camp were far from happy, from what Tooru could see through the tiny gaps in their shrub.

“Aran, there’s no one here,” said the Miya with a different shade of hair—the less popular twin—rubbing at the back of his neck and supporting the entirety of his own weight with a single leg.

The man leading the group, large and dark-skinned, scanned the area. “Maybe now, but I swear, I could hear a dog somewhere around.”

“What are you, a dog detector?”

“Obviously, I heard barking, jackass.”

Tooru couldn’t quite see from where he was, thorough in his hiding but firm in his resolve to witness as much as he could, but it sounded like Miya (the first one, the more obnoxious one) was stretching. “We haven’t slept in hours,” he moaned. “And that stupid stun bomb made my joints all stiff, _ugh._ How long are we going to keep searching?”

"Until we find it," said a low and serious voice, one that Tooru hadn’t heard speaking before. "We can’t let that dog get away if it has that pouch. You didn’t go through so much trouble to steal it for nothing."

Tobio and Tooru exchanged glances.

"Don’t call it stealing, man, it’s for a good cause.”

"It is what it is, no matter what the cause is. What’s important is that your stealing it will be worth it, now let’s go and find that pouch.”

"Yeah, please, my wi-fi is in there."

"Why did we go back to camp again?"

"I told you, I heard the dog somewhere here. We should keep moving along in this direction; we’ll probably run into them eventually."

"They’re not going to be that hard a fight if we take them half seriously. Seemed to me yesterday that Oikawa wasn’t in peak condition."

Tooru frowned. That had to be Suna.

"Okay, good to know, but we can’t fight them if we can’t find them. Let’s go."

Three of them behind the shrub huddled together, Tooru making sure to keep both Tobio and Riku as close to him as possible as he struggled to trace Inarizaki’s path with his hearing alone, even in his less than optimal condition. Their footsteps were moving further away, thank god, but he kept his lips sealed anyway, for the longest time, until they disappeared completely.

He felt Tobio’s breath on his face. "Think we’re safe?"

"Ew!" Tooru whispered with as much ferocity as he could, only now aware that one of his hands was on Tobio’s back, pulling them closer together. He flailed around. "Ew, ew, could you not breathe on me? Ew!"

"Sorry!" Tobio harshly whispered back, moving away. His ears were turning a light shade of pink. It suited how angry he looked.

Tooru rubbed at his cheek. His fever was making his face and hand go warm. "I think we’re safe for now," he said, just to get back to business, please, "but more importantly, they just said that they stole this thing. This pouch and whatever’s inside it."

"What about it?"

"We could totally turn them in and get them off our backs for good."

"What proof do we have?"

"We just—oh god damn it, we should have recorded the conversation."

"Do you think maybe that’s the reason Riku really wants to have it, though?" Tobio eyed Riku, set a hand on top of his head in a feeble attempt to pet him. It was ridiculous. "Does he maybe know that it’s stolen and wants to give it back?"

Riku whimpered.

"You mean like one of those cop dogs?" Tooru asked, looking at Riku as well. "Are you a cop dog?"

He whined.

"So that’s a no. But it’s still possible. That he wants to give it back to the owner, I mean. Maybe he was there when they took it." Tooru clicked his tongue. "Now the problem is, how do we get out of here safely and return it?"

"Wi-fi."

"Huh?"

"One of them earlier mentioned that he had wi-fi in the pouch," Tobio said. "Maybe we can connect and get a map to see where we are and how to get out of here. Or we can call for help. We should check if this thing has any other pockets, or maybe if anything’s hidden with the foam.”

Tobio dutifully rifled through the sea of foam in the bag, pulling some out and placing them on the ground for easier searching, and Tooru felt a brief flicker of fear that they’d misplaced the cube, only to remember that he still had it in his hand, in all its brown and ugly glory. He stared at it, even while Riku moved his head closer for a few sniffs. What could have been so precious about this thing that such an esteemed alliance had found it necessary to break the law just to acquire it? It certainly didn’t look valuable, and anyway, Tooru doubted that money was an issue for a team of high-ranked Slayers.

“Hey, I found it,” Tobio declared, his hand buried in the depths of foam emerging with a dusty white cuboid. He held it and the pouch with a single hand and unlocked his phone with the other. “I’ll try and connect.”

“Don’t you think it’s going to have a password?” Tooru asked, moving so he could get a glimpse of Tobio’s screen.

Surprisingly, the network comically named ‘fuck off atsumu’ was unprotected, which was a big mistake, probably, if the owner truly wanted Atsumu to fuck off, but it worked in their favour and that was enough for Tooru. He watched with anticipation as Tobio clicked, waited for the word ‘Connected’ before he finally brought out his own phone.

“The signal here is better than at my house,” Tobio remarked as Tooru entered his passcode.

“No surprise you grew up in a place more primitive than the wilderness,” Tooru muttered. He didn’t bother meeting Tobio’s irritated glare, focused on getting himself connected to the network so they could get out of here and he could drink some anti-biotics or something. The light of his screen made his eyes hurt. “Go and check out if this place is marked on the map. If we’re not in a good place to get out, go and call your alliance. I think I’ll call mine already—”

"Oh, thank _god,_ " Miya drawled, right as Tooru felt a hand curl around the back of his shirt and pull. The cold of a knife blade touched his neck. "For a second, I thought our friend Aran over here was going insane and hearing things. It wasn’t very friendly of you to bomb us and run, you know. We thought we’d really lost you guys."

Riku erupted into another fit of barks in time for Tooru to watch Suna and Aran grab Tobio by the arms, Suna sending a strong kick to his hand and causing his phone to fly off into a distance. Tobio looked more appalled than pained, struggled when another member Tooru had yet to be heard named made a grab for the livid Riku and failed. But Tobio could do nothing, thwarted by a gun pressed right to his temple.

“Okay, so if it’s not obvious, if either one of you move a single muscle, the other one’s going to die a really anticlimactic death,” Miya said. “All of us here are more accomplished than you’ll ever be, so your murders mean nothing to us, I guarantee. Take my advice and don’t even bother testing that.”

He paused as his ally tripped on his own feet trying to tame the thrashing Riku. “Riseki, could you hurry that up, please?”

“I’m _trying,_ but he’s wild!” Riseki was fairly large but a little more awkward than his physique set him up to be, his arms unable to keep the dog steady especially not while he lay on his side, fur continuously swishing around in his face. “And it doesn’t even seem like he has the bag!”

The bag was underneath Tobio’s legs; Tooru only realized when Suna kicked them apart and practically drilled his gun to the side of Tobio’s head. Tobio winced against the hostile treatment, but Tooru couldn’t help but feel amazed, how quickly he’d managed to hide the pouch, though not very well, despite the suddenness of the ambush.

Miya’s twin picked the pouch up, seemed to frown at the zipper, and gingerly searched through it with the tips of his fingers, like the pieces of foam were dirty and he’d acquire illnesses from touching them. His frown deepened.

“It’s not here,” he said, meeting his brother’s eyes.

Tooru felt his knee twitch right when his heart skipped a beat. The metal cube tucked safely in his uninjured hand was colder and heavier than ever.

The same went for the knife pressed against his neck. He felt and heard Miya get on a single knee, saw the bastard’s face far too close for comfort from the corner of his eye. “Where did you put it?” he asked, his voice no longer happy and chatty, but low. Impatient.

Tooru could do nothing but test it. “Let me go and I might just tell you,” he said.

“Or how about I hack your fingers off one by one until you tell me?” Miya retorted, wrapping the arm holding the knife around Tooru’s neck and then using his free one to pick up Tooru’s trembling, bandaged hand. “I’m sure this little guy in particular would like that, don’t you think?”

He swallowed, closed his fist tighter around Inarizaki’s treasure.

Miya took Tooru’s hand in his, wrapped it around his palm in the same way that Watari would when he wanted to show Tooru something exciting, soft and gentle—and gave a merciless squeeze. Tooru gritted his teeth, groaned with closed lips, entire body chilling up despite the sweat collecting at his hairline. What a perfect opportunity for his fever to actually start acting up again.

"Oh, I think Suna mentioned you hit your head yesterday. Maybe around here?"

A fist was drilled right where the rocks had collided with Tooru’s skull before his encounter with Suna, and Tooru shook, tried to keeo his mouth closed and his agony muffled.

“Where is it?” Miya asked again.

“Oikawa-san,” Tobio warned.

Tooru was breathing hard. His head was swimming and his vision was clouded with floating stars. His eyes were heavy but he raised them, poured what energy he had left into meeting Tobio’s eyes. His face wore an expression Tooru’d never seen on him before, something etched with worry, a helplessness at the same time marked with semblances of responsibility. He didn’t know what to do either, but he wanted Tooru to do what was smart. He wanted Tooru to keep himself and Riku safe.

How Tooru understood all this with just a single glance, he wasn’t sure either.

“Oikawa-san,” Miya sang, rhythmically tapping at his neck with the knife. “You should’ve thought to do this silent treatment thing before you knocked us all out at the same time yesterday, because none of us are in a very good mood because of that. Suna’s fingers get pretty twitchy when he’s in a bad mood. Right, Suna?”

Tooru tensed as Suna fiddled with the trigger of his gun, still pointed at Tobio’s head, in answer.

“What even is it?” His voice, though weak, came out in a panic. Tobio looked legitimately bothered by the gun now, Riku was trapped snugly in the arms of his own captor, and he was freezing, the grip that Miya was torturing him with his only source of needed warmth. _Goddamn wound._ “What is it? Why are you so desperate to have it?”

The relaxed state of Miya’s body heavily contrasting the effort he put into digging his knife into Tooru’s flesh. “Listen, I’ll summarize it for you: it’s none of your business. Now if you don’t give me a straight answer in the next ten seconds, Tobio-kun’s head explodes and your dog gets thrown down a cliff. Ten—”

Tooru shuddered, shut his eyes.

“—nine—”

He reopened them to look at Tobio, glaring at Suna as best he could, listening to whatever bullshit the latter was spewing with a smile.

“—eight—”

He looked at Riku still in Riseki’s hold, wriggling and whining despite the scolding and harshness.

“—seven—”

He glanced up at the other members, found the other Miya staring at his brother with exasperation, found a man he couldn’t identify grabbing onto the fallen pocket wi-fi and dusting it off.

“—six—”

He really needed to think, but he couldn’t. It was too cold and too hot at the same time and he was six counts away from Tobio and Riku’s deaths, too weak to do anything about anything. Scared to move, striving to breathe.

“—five—seriously? You’re making me do this until ‘one’? Seriously?”

He shut his eyes again. His head hurt and Miya’s voice was so infuriating.

“—four—oh _shit_ —”

Tooru only registered the shrill scream through his muddled hearing when he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and wet with sick tears, but he could see Riseki’s body falling, floundering on the ground, and when he blinked the focus back into his eyes, Tooru saw Riku, his teeth deep into his captor’s flesh, head jerking about like it was while he’d attempted to tear the pouch apart.

Tooru hit the floor as soon as he was dropped, his hand and head throbbing, a static sounding in his ears, his eyes locked onto the gruesome scene.

Miya had flown forward, yelling something, but the words were lost to buzzing. The members of Inarizaki were all gathered around, they and the ground they stood on as they tried to pry the dog off of their ally tilting until they were upside down in Tooru’s eyes and until he was shutting them, unwilling to start throwing up from dizziness, unwilling to cry out in distress from the stinging in his hand and the discomfort in his everything.

 _Don’t shoot!_ he vaguely heard, and he gasped like he hadn’t been breathing, rolled on his side. He needed to get up and keep Tobio and Riku alive. But his fingers were twitching. His feet were cold. He was bleeding through his bandage and the back of his head felt like it was being crushed. Something in his neck stung.

Something warm touched his arm and Tobio’s face was all of a sudden hovering above his, eyes, both black and not, looking more urgent than Tooru had ever seen them. _Oikawa-san,_ echoed somewhere that seemed far away, and then he felt himself getting hoisted up, the heat of Tobio’s hands contrasting with the cold of his shoulder blades and his wrists and then the backs of his knees.

“Wait,” Tooru forced himself to call, however weakly, “where’s—my bag? Where’s your bag?”

 _They’re both with me,_ he heard in Tobio’s voice, a little closer but the sound exploding.

“What? But...that’s two bags. You can’t carry two bags _and_ me.”

_Try me._

And then all he could see was the back of Tobio’s head. He moved his own to look above Tobio’s shoulder, saw a part of the forest he’d never seen before bouncing in his vision and passing too quickly.

He exhaled. He needed to pull himself together.

Tooru focused on his surroundings—the sights, the smells, the wind their run made blow, the touch of Tobio’s warmth and the sharp edges of the cube still in his hands. It was a miracle he managed to hold onto it, wondered if that was where majority of his strength had concentrated itself, leaving him this half-conscious immobile mess. He tucked it in his pocket, stretched his numbing hand, and things felt marginally realer again.

And even more so when Tobio had stopped his running, taking deep breaths. The sound of his inhales and exhales were soothing, quiet but somehow overthrowing the odd whirr in Tooru’s ears. He crouched down, let Tooru stand on his own two feet for not a single second before quickly steadying his swaying, helping him safely get down onto the floor.

Tobio spoke, and the first bits sounded like muffled screams from inside of a tin cage, but slowly, the words cleared. “—back for you, okay? Stay here and try to hide or something—”

“What?” Tooru said, his voice coming out a croak. Soft and pathetic.

“I said, I’m going to go back for Riku and help him fend off everyone from Inarizaki, and when we do, we’re gonna come back for you—”

“He’s fighting off the _entire_ Inarizaki?”

“Yes, that’s why I need to hurry back, Oikawa-san; just please stay here and try to stay safe—”

“Yeah, you’re not getting off that easily.”

Tobio turned around just in time to keep the other Miya’s dagger from stabbing him right in the neck, and Tooru’s entire being jumped as their arms clashed, grew even colder when Suna joined the fray, thankfully not wielding his gun but, still unfortunately, a short cutlass. Tobio, left without time to pull out his own knife, engaged them with nothing but his bare limbs, took a single glance at Tooru before moving in such a way that he could draw his opponents away from where Tooru sat unable to defend himself.

It was subtle but so very obvious to Tooru, and it impressed him and quickened his pulse just as much as it pissed him off. He really needed to get off his ass and do something, sickness and infections and hallucinations be damned.

“Damn it, Suna, we would’ve gotten him for sure if you hadn’t talked,” said the other Miya, gritting his teeth as he attempted to dislodge his dagger from a nearby tree, Tooru having completely missed how it had gotten there.

“We’ll get them regardless,” Suna replied, managing to knee Tobio right in the ribs and then nearly sweeping his head clean off with his blade. Tobio ducked down just in time and instantly rammed his body into Suna’s lower half, the two of them tumbling to the ground and rolling—Suna to his feet, Tobio diving for another direction as Miya and his now-free dagger launched themselves at him.

Tooru couldn’t waste time watching. His eyes could barely focus and he needed to fix them up and then the rest of his form so he could get up and help. But he could hear the sounds, heard feet stomping against trees and sliding against the ground, heard Tobio’s effort through the little noises he made when he hit and got hit, heard the sound of the dagger and the cutlass slicing through air and then some. He felt his body itching to move, to be of some use, but his head felt like it would murder him before anyone from Inarizaki could try.

He subtly, quietly tried to get up so as to not draw any attention to himself, growled inwardly when he only fell back down, hand convulsing. He grimaced, used his good hand to pull his fallen backpack closer. He needed medicine, painkillers, a healthy dose of adrenaline— _anything._ They had to go back for Riku. All three of them had to get out alive.

But in his hazy state of mind, the only thing he managed to pick up as he stuck inside his backpack and felt around wasn’t anything for a fever, wasn’t anything that could help him get back on his feet.

It was his gun.

He stared at it, and then at the fight unfolding before him. He could interfere, he thought, and quite easily—but one wrong shot could lead to a multitude of outcomes either good or terrible. He could miss completely, a likely outcome, and from there he could either carry on trying or end up leading Suna’s cutlass right through his throat, once the latter realized he was sane enough to try and fight. He could hit one of them right where it mattered and land himself a place in jail for violating his Kill Ban. He could also hit one of them somewhere that would hurt without murdering them, which was ideal and, judging from the spinning of his vision, near impossible.

But the greatest risk, he realized, was the possibility of shooting neither Suna nor Miya, but Tobio instead. He was the one thing keeping Tooru from dying an incredibly lame, fevered death and him getting hurt now would be the last thing any of them needed, but they had to move from this somehow and from what Tooru could see, following the movements as devotedly as he could, gripping the gun as tightly as he could, everything was at a stalemate.

He was fighting back against two of the city’s greatest Slayers with all he could, his kris now in his grasp. It was short, yet he defended himself with as much ease as his opponents did, the weapon crashing against the longer ones without any additional difficulty. To Tooru’s struggling eyes they were all but blurs, but he could see Tobio clearer, somehow—like his image was materializing before Tooru from a memory rather than the present. And if he squinted a little that image was solid, his face stuck in a scowl of effort and contempt complete and with all the little details, down to the position of his lips and every last drop of sweat.

And then without truly thinking Tooru thought: he was so beautiful.

Mesmerizing was another word for it. Every hasty move he made seemed to play in slow motion right in Tooru’s face and his form, his expression, and every message that went expressed by his grace rather than his words were a brand of stunning Tooru had encountered before but still through Tobio himself, a few times on television. Maybe it was the fever talking, maybe it wasn’t, but Tooru’s eyes were drawn, and they didn’t want to move away.

But what had even changed? Even as he sat, freezing in his own burning skin with his heart beating at an alarming pace, the Tobio that flipped and guarded before him was nowhere near different from the one that merely attempted all those years ago, on the practice mat—

_(“Oikawa-san, you opened the door too loud on purpose! You distracted me right when he was closing in on me so that I would lose!”)_

—and in a corner when he thought no one was looking; and Tooru himself was just as he was before. Silently watching. Studying. Insides stirring with emotions too tedious to name.

 _(“Rule number one of the_ real _Slaying world, Tobio-chan: never get distracted.”)_

Jealousy? Awe? Fear? Pride? A mix of all of that and more, perhaps, something personalized and tailored especially for the deeply-frowning, skillful, _strong_ fighter before him that had once been his junior but now was nothing but his equal.

It was exhilarating. And right at the exact dosage that Tooru needed. He raised his arm.

An unspoken rule of guns in general was that a target was only a target when you aimed. But rules and rationality were sliding right across the surface of Tooru’s brain and then swiftly heading back out, and so he felt no hesitation as his finger hovered over the trigger and yet continued to keep his eyes on Tobio, his lightning-quick reflexes and rapidly-moving gaze. His leg was cut and bleeding but the kick he aimed for Miya’s chest was perfect. The block he raised against the cutlass was precisely timed. The sound his head made as he thrust it against Suna’s made Tooru’s arm quiver.

He watched and he watched and he kept his arm up. When Tobio moved to the left, so did his eyes. When Tobio moved further left, so did his eyes. His head was heavy and he was hardly in his right mind but he watched. (Tobio was sent into an unintended backroll.) Waited. (He was pinned to the ground for a flicker of a second before breaking free.) Moved his arm. (He kicked at Suna and Miya at the same time and they dispersed before quickly moving back in.) All in a cycle. (He was surrounded.)

And Tooru fired.

He had no idea where the bullet flew off to, but it fulfilled its intended use. The two bodies within Tooru’s line of sight flinched, ever so slightly, their movements stopped or slowed for the briefest fractions of a second, but that was all he needed. Tobio swung his arm, its impact against Suna’s face large enough to send the latter hurtling back, and immediately wrapped it around Miya’s neck and pressed his wrist against the side, Miya unable to fight back properly until he was falling unconscious. The time the hold took was just enough for Suna to regain his composure and rise, but all for naught. Now a little less overwhelmed, Tobio had him falling similarly after the briefest of scuffles.

As Suna hit the ground a second time, for what felt like the first time in twenty years, Tooru sucked in a deep breath.

Twenty years for Tooru had to be two hundred for Tobio, all covered in serious scars and with his eye still untreated, but he simply shut his eyes, silently groaned, and stretched as he caught his breath. It had been one grand and terribly-calculated (but still calculated) risk that Tooru took, the gamble giving Tobio far more credit than what was safe, but it had been, most definitely, worth it. If not for their victories then simply for the satisfaction of seeing Tobio breathe as eagerly as he used to scarf down yogurt.

Tooru was too weak to laugh at him. “Looks like you remembered the rules,” he said instead.

The exasperation on Tobio’s face could only stem from the frustration of a twelve-year old against his senior for sabotaging him. “That was the first duel I was allowed to have with a student one level higher than me,” he said. “I’m never going to forget.”

There was neither enough time nor energy even for a small smile, even of the irately endeared variety, but Tooru wore one anyway.

At least until several hurrying bodies were rushing out from the trees and the entirety of Tooru’s alliance’s senior group was appearing out of nowhere, all of them armed and alarmed and glaring at Tobio with their eyes and their assortment of weapons.

Tooru’s frail, near bloodless body jolted forward. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop! Stop!"

Tobio was completely sealed off behind the multitude of silver and other metals held up by his face, his body already in a fighting stance ready for another impossible round, and based on the scowl on Iwaizumi’s, that was probably the intention from the start.

"Is this where you’ve been since yesterday, Oikawa?" he snapped, moving so that his warhammer (oh, Iwa-chan and his love for clunky weapons) was right underneath Tobio’s chin. "Fighting Kageyama off because he tried to kill you while you couldn’t fight back? We fucking told you not to run off on your own while on probation—what happened to your hand? Did he do that to you? I swear to god—"

"Iwaizumi-san, I have to get back—"

"No, you don’t get to get a word in, Kageyama, because I honestly can’t believe that you would do something as pathetic as this."

"Yeah, really pathetic," Hanamaki chimed in as Tobio made a face at Iwaizumi. "Zero out of ten. Too desperate."

"Iwa-chan," Tooru cried. His voice was still weaker than it ought to be. Shit, that wasn’t going to help his case at all. He met each of his ally’s eyes. "Makki, Mattsun—stand down and back away. Tobio isn’t the problem here."

"Kageyama’s not the problem?" Matsukawa repeated. He poked Kageyama in the side with his bat, a little too comically given that he looked almost as aggravated as Iwaizumi did. "Kageyama’s always your problem! How is Kageyama not the problem?"

"Wait, are these guys from Inarizaki?" Makki asked, slowly setting his crossbow down as he examined the bodies fallen on the ground.

"Yes," Tooru said, keeping his voice firm and nothing but genuine, a gentle means of persuasion to get the rest of his crew to lay down their arms and analyze the situation the way it was supposed to be analyzed. "I’ll explain everything later, but you have to let Tobio go. We left someone behind fighting the rest of Inarizaki off and he could be in trouble. Tobio has to help him."

Iwaizumi’s brows were still low and creased, his eyes obviously searching Tooru’s for a hint of anything out of the ordinary, anything that looked and smelled like bullshit. And when he sighed, Tooru knew he passed the test.

"Fine," he said, begrudgingly setting his hammer down, and Tobio gave a short bow before quickly rushing off. Iwaizumi shook his head and then jerked it in Miya and Suna’s direction. "Hanamaki. Go watch those two on the ground. Matsukawa, you and I are on Oikawa duty."

"When are we not?"

"No," Tooru protested as his Makki positioned himself close to the unconscious enemies and his self-designated handlers crouched in front of him. "No Oikawa duty. Just give me a pill or something and let me get back to where Tobio is."

"You’re not getting any kind of pill until you tell us everything that happened."

"Iwa-chan, there’s no time!"

"Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been? You couldn’t be reached since last night and we wouldn’t have found you if your message window hadn’t identified your location and displayed it. What the fuck is going on?"

"What’s going on is that Inarizaki is up to no good and I’m sitting on my ass unable to do anything just letting Tobio and Riku—"

"Who the hell is Riku?"

"I have to go!"

"You’re not going anywhere in that state!"

_"Iwaizumi—"_

_"Okay,"_ Matsukawa yelled over the yelling, grabbing Iwaizumi and Tooru by the shoulders and briefly shaking. "Oikawa duty doesn’t involve fighting. It’s about caring for Team Leader Tooru and making sure he’s fit to actually lead us in the fight. Now, Oikawa, what parts of you exactly need treating?"

Tooru breathed, stared at his hand. "I—I injured my hand but Tobio cleaned it up. The bandage might need replacing." The ever-helpful Mattsun, bless his soul, reached for their team first aid immediately and searched inside. "I had a fever last night and it...stayed, I guess, since we didn’t have time to stop and rest. And I hit my head pretty bad on some rocks. Everything else can be ignored."

"All right, while I’m fixing you up, talk to Iwaizumi please so he doesn’t get an ulcer."

"I am going to flush your head down a toilet," Iwaizumi said.

Tooru reluctantly stared up at Iwaizumi, whose expression was what it always was when he there was trouble, that unholy mix of fury and concern. The fury often weighed heavier on both his features and actions, and as much as Tooru wanted to give him the truth, he didn’t want Iwaizumi to be mad at Tobio. Yesterday had been questionable but he’d done nothing but prove his usefulness and good enough heart in the last loads of hours, and a punch or scolding from Iwaizumi (his better, kinder senior from the training days) was the absolute worst way to repay him.

"I’m not going to go into detail," Tooru said, eye twitching minimally as Mattsun handed him a compress for his head and worked with his bandage. "But we ended up down here after a run-in with Shiratorizawa and found a dog—"

"A dog? Here?"

"Yeah, somewhere here. More trees and really little breathing room. And apparently, Inarizaki was looking for him too. They stole something, Iwa-chan. And they refuse to admit what it’s for, so they’re probably up to no good, right? Riku—the dog—we think he followed Inarizaki all the way here to take back what they stole and return it to the owner. But we messed with them and now they’re not gonna stop until they get back what they stole—"

"What do you have to do with that? Is it with you?"

Tooru stole a glance at the unconscious Miya and Suna feet away, set down his compress, and reached inside his pocket, displaying the strange metal cube flat on his palm.

"Whatever this is, they’re willing to kill for it," he said. Matsukawa briefly looked up from his handiwork to examine the thing along with Iwaizumi until Tooru put it away. "And we can’t let them have it if they’re gonna use it for something bad. Plus, they stole it; that means it’s not supposed to be with them and they can’t have it back. What if it’s extremely valuable?"

"Wait, so the ‘someone' you left behind fighting all of Inarizaki off is a _dog?"_

"Yeah. We called him Riku."

"You and Kageyama?" Matsukawa asked.

“Yeah. Well, just me really, he only followed along. River, mountain, and sky. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, it’s cute. It’s like you guys are a little family."

All of the remaining functionality of Tooru’s brain came to an embarrassing halt, and he frowned. "Don’t say that; it’s gross."

"Don’t turn red and go tell your heartbeat to slow down, then."

"I don’t need to slow down!" Tooru cried, snatching his wrist and pulse rate away from Mattsun’s grasp. He cringed as his first aider took it back. "I mean—I don’t need to tell my heart to slow down. This is how it normally goes."

"Well, that’s alarming. Hey, Iwaizumi, feel this and tell me if Oikawa’s dying."

"Mattsun!"

"Okay, okay, Oikawa duty doesn’t involve embarrassing Team Leader Tooru until he’s red from head to toe, either," Iwaizumi said, smiling now.

"I’m not red!"

"Oikawa, you should really save your energy for fighting instead of wasting it on badly-executed denial," Hanamaki called from beside Miya’s body.

"We are in the middle of a matter of life and death, you slacking oafs!"

"And you’re in the middle of the longest crush I’ve ever witnessed."

_"Mattsun, are you finished."_

"Yeah, just about. Here, take this, though." Mattsun was smiling as he popped open a bottle and let a pill roll onto Tooru’s hand. "For that fever. It’s not gonna make you any better since you’re about to go full force against Inarizaki to defend your family of three, but it’ll help things not get worse."

Tooru waited for the snickering to die down before concluding his glare and swallowing the pill. "You are all unserious and unprofessional and you’re all fired," he said, willing the medicine to kick in as early as now to help him get up. He stood up regardless, wobbled but otherwise managed to stay upright, and that was the first and most important step to progress.

He breathed in. “Let’s go.”

His legs still vaguely felt jelly but he didn’t let himself lag behind his alliance as they raced back to the epicenter of the fighting. And all the while he wished away the warmth of his skin, tried to convince himself that it was something that came with sickness and not of his so-called friends’ libelous accusations. Now wasn’t the time to put a label on that custom emotion his brain and heart had reserved for Tobio alone. If they arrived too late and were left faced with his and five other carcasses, then the information wouldn’t matter.

And he tried to shove the thoughts away from his mind; boy, did he try. But even just the short window of time in which he ran back to Inarizaki’s once-camp was enough for years and years worth of black-and-white life rewinds to come flooding in, reruns of old events in which Tobio left his heart racing with every breath he took, and it was hard not to wonder.

Was that considered a crush? Wasn’t Tooru too old for that? Too old for Tobio? Too esteemed and accomplished to let elements of his young life and Tobio, of all people, linger with him for this long? Too smart to let himself get distracted by an unwarranted, indecipherable feeling more than ten years in the making?

“All right, _that’s_ about enough!”

Mere feet away from the scene, the source of the aggressive scream, Tooru and the part of his alliance that he had with him skidded to a stop.

They hadn’t made it into the clearing just yet, but the current situation was clear. Members of Inarizaki were gathered around, concentrated in a single area of the camp where Tooru supposed Tobio was, with the exception of Miya Atsumu. He was the star of the show, standing right in the middle of the open area, holding Riku cruelly up by the back of his neck and within a sizeable distance, holding a gun to his fragile head. Nobody moved.

Tooru almost did, gasping, but Matsukawa managed to bar his way with an alert arm.

Almost as alarming as Riku’s hostage were the very visible, gruesome wounds on Miya’s person. He had a few minor cuts on his face and neck but his entire sleeve was frayed until the elbow and the flesh of his arm was just as torn, brutalized and bleeding profusely. His allies weren’t too far off, Riseki the most battered among the assembly. Tooru took one look at him and swallowed, took one look at Riku and instantly felt glad that he’d gotten on the dog’s good side.

“All right!” Miya yelled again. “I’ve had it with whatever the hell is going on. Tobio-kun.” His demeanour as he turned was very frazzled, something Tooru never thought he’d ever live to see. “Tell me where it is or it’s going to get ugly. _”_

Tobio was standing in the center of the mass of Inarizaki members, wielding that ridiculous chainsaw of his and not sporting any additional wounds, but it was his expression that was torn in place of his skin (though there were considerable parts of his skin that _were_ torn; Tooru frowned at them). He took a breath, and Tooru realized that he wasn’t aware that the cube sat in Tooru’s pocket. He clutched at his chest, felt for it as Tobio opened his mouth to speak. “I—”

“No! No I’s or um’s or anything other than a location. You care about this little demon dog, right? Well, I don’t, and I’m done playing around. Another move, another word that comes from your mouth that I don’t ask to hear, and your pet’s head flies off. I’m _serious._ ”

Tobio pursed his lips, and his pained expression as he stared at the poor Riku dangling above the ground was enough to make Tooru’s chest heavy. No one was close enough to intervene within less time than it took to fire a shot from a handgun, and the only bargain Miya was willing to listen to was the one that Riku evidently didn’t want anyone to make, for whatever reason.

But there was no other choice. They would never move and Riku would die if Tooru kept quiet. He took the cube, the back of his head still throbbing and still ignored, and hoped that his stepping forward wouldn’t startle Miya’s finger into movement.

“How about a trade then?” he said aloud.

All of the gazes cast upon him as he passed through the trees and into the clearing were piercing enough to create holes, but he held his ground and, more importantly, held the cube in his hands. Like he’d done with Mattsun and Iwaizumi back at his resting place, he uncurled his fist and revealed the tiny thing on his palm, prepared himself for the inevitable negotiation of terms and conditions that came with the rel—

“ _Holy shit.”_

At once, all the men of Inarizaki were growing wide-eyed and backing away, making flustered and shaky, terrified noises as they went, leaving Tobio confused and unattended. Miya’s grip remained on Riku as he backpedaled, step by step, but the hand holding the gun was raised in some sort of surrender.

“Holy shit. Dude. Oikawa,” he said, staring at the cube as if it were a monster and not something he’d been forcefully demanding since yesterday, “—san. Oikawa-san. Put that back in the bag, holy shit. _How long_ have you been holding it like that?”

Tooru looked down at his own hand and at the seemingly-useless thing that sat on top of it. He raised an eyebrow at Miya. “Uhh, since we found your camp?” he admitted, unsure what all the fuss was about.

“What the fuck? How is it not activated? How are you not dead?”

Confused, Tooru spun it and held it up—

“No! No, no, no, stop that! Don’t play with it; you have no idea what you’re doing! Put it back in the bag, now! Put it back and you can have your dog back and we’ll all go on our merry way. Just put it back!”

“What even is this?”

“Hey, I still have your dog,” Miya urgently reminded. “Put it back in the bag if you don’t want me to shoot!”

“Put him down if you don’t want me toying around with your little plaything.”

Miya slapped his face with his hand, and consequently, the gun. “This is ridiculous,” he said, still louder than in his normal, casual manner. “Look! This isn’t some sort of action movie with you as the heroes and us as the villains. We’re not planning to destroy the world, you weren’t brought here to stop us, and _we are all going to_ _die_ if you don’t put that back in the bag with the foam _as carefully as you possibly—”_

A _boom_ resounded from far away, stopping Miya in the middle of his yelling and reducing him and everyone around him to silent, gaping messes as the earth beneath their feet trembled. Tooru himself felt a miniscule anxiety building up in his chest, and it didn’t help at all that Miya had become so out of focus that Tobio managed to swoop in and snatch Riku away from his hold. He rushed away and next to Tooru, a hand on top of Riku’s head, and still half-preoccupied with Miya’s gawking Tooru reached up and rubbed the dog by the neck.

Another _boom_ came.

“Atsumu,” one of the members of Inarizaki said.

“You have gotta be kidding me,” Miya finally found the strength to say. He looked frantically around. “We’ve been searching for days and she has to come _now_ when we’re in the middle of a—” The thought died on his tongue as he found Tooru, still clutching at the cube. He swiped at it. “Give it to me.”

Tooru instinctively backed away.

“Oh my god, what is _wrong_ with you? Do you not hear—” There came another _boom,_ another small tremor. “Yeah, that! I know you have no idea what _that_ is but I promise you it can, and will, rip you to pieces and—you know what? So can _this._ ” He pointed to the cube. “Now you can either get ripped to pieces via nature’s wonders or via machine, _or_ you can give it to me so you don’t end up making that choice for all of us. Which is it?”

His hand tightened around the cube, but Tooru exchanged glances with Tobio. He didn’t think he’d ever hear the normally collected Miya Atsumu this panicked, and it was both reassuring and extremely alarming, the latter keeping Tooru’s hand from moving both forward and back.

There was another _boom_ , another tremor, _closer,_ and Riku gave a single loud bark, growled, barked some more and tried to wriggle out of Tobio’s hold.

Two _booms_ sounded.

“Is this proof enough that something’s bad happening?” Miya cried, gesturing to Riku who Tobio was struggling to keep in place for only the second time since they met. “What, do you want me to get on my knees? Is that what you want? Will you give it to me then?”

His desperation and Riku’s barking and the slight shake of the ground made Tooru’s heart pound in his ears. He wished the fever medicine would kick in a little faster.

“Oikawa-san,” Miya said, slowly, “ _please.”_

Tooru bit his lip, stole another glance at Tobio who was now stumbling on his words and his own feet trying to calm their dog down, and frowned at Miya but held the cube out.

“Thank you! Fuck! Yuuto!”

Immediately, one of Inarizaki came running, holding the bag open for Tooru to (“Carefully,” Miya instructed) place the cube inside. It landed safely on the foam and Yuuto quickly zipped the pouch up, handed it to Miya who, for all his earlier snark and ruthlessness, actually looked nervous.

The _booms_ were slow, but they no longer stopped.

Miya turned away. “Kita-san.”

“ _Ow,”_ Tobio hissed lightly at the same time, and Tooru looked at him just in time to see him pulling his hand away from Riku’s unstoppable mouth. His finger bled.

Tooru was only able to turn toward him before Hanamaki was beating him to the punch, taking Riku in his own arms and whispering to Tobio something unintelligible. He watched Tobio give a short bow in thanks and squeeze at his cut finger and examine his sliced leg, a little disappointed with Makki and himself for some ungodly reason, before turning to Inarizaki once again, at Miya now in a heated yet quiet discussion with a smaller, serious-looking man.

That man, who Tooru figured had to be Kita, looked at them. “Thank you for cooperating, however long it took,” he said. “You’re free to leave now, if you want, but if you’d like to stay and help, that’d be all right too. Just make sure you keep the dog under control; it’s not going to like what we’re about to meet.”

“What is it?” Iwaizumi asked.

Kita looked to Miya, who made a face. For a brief moment, the ground felt like it hopped along with a louder _boom._ “We’d rather not explain right now,” Kita said in his stead. “We have a strategy to formulate. We didn’t anticipate encountering it here at our camp. If you’re planning to stay, we’ll fill you in when we’re finished. And we’re sorry for not doing so earlier."

 _BOOM,_ went whatever was coming, and Tooru sharply gasped, his left hand moving to grab whatever it could reach, which turned out to be another hand. His feet felt the vibration of the earth a little too well. He felt his skin chilling with sweat again.

“Oikawa-san, are you all right?” Tooru turned to his left and at once met Tobio’s eyes (he was close, really close), realized that it was his hand Tooru was currently squeezing.

He let out a shaky exhale, squeezed a little tighter before letting go. “Yeah, I—more or less,” he said, averting his gaze. “I took medicine, so.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Tobio nod, almost shyly look away.

The sight of it nearly sent him into another fit of uncalled-for overthinking, but it wasn’t quite enough to overpower all the terrifying noises, Riku’s own fit of barks included. Hanamaki seemed to be struggling with him more than Tobio was, though he usually had excellent prowess with dogs in particular. Tooru approached the two of them, tried to soothe Riku with a caress to the head with his good hand.

“Oikawa, please don’t tell me you’re planning to stay,” said Makki.

Tooru didn’t reply.

“You’re planning to stay?” Iwaizumi demanded, marching up to the two of them, Tobio moving out of his way and narrowly able to avoid getting trampled by his angry steps. “Are you out of your mind? These guys have been trying to kill you since you got here, haven’t they? You don’t owe them any help and you’re not in condition to give them any help. And Kageyama isn’t staying, right, Kageyama?”

“Uh,” Tobio said, “I actually want to stay.”

Hand on Riku’s head staying in place, Tooru turned to look at him.

“I mean—I’m not friends with Inarizaki or anything, but—” The ground shook a little more evidently than any other instance, and all five of them briefly stiffened. Riku only howled louder. “Whatever that is, it can’t be easy to deal with, and I knocked out two of the people they were counting on to help. So…”

“That’s not your problem! From the looks of it, this entire thing is that asshole Miya’s fault,” Iwaizumi yelled, with absolutely no consideration for the fact that Miya was merely yards away. “Whether they succeed or die or get ripped to pieces shouldn’t be your concern.”

“If he’s staying, I’m staying,” Tooru said quickly, as if it wasn’t the biggest mistake he could make while Iwaizumi’s mood was in this state.

The glare thrown at him was murderous. “You have a fever,” Iwaizumi stated, lowly and slowly, which meant nothing good, “and a hole in your _goddamn_ hand. Do you want a _concussion_ too? Do you want to die today, Oikawa? I’ll quit the alliance and kill you myself if you don’t stop spouting bullshit.”

“I can guarantee he’s completely serious,” Matsukawa added.

Hardly threatened, Tooru looked at Riku, staring fiercely at a single corner of the clearing, barks getting louder and louder with every passing _boom._ “When I leave here, I want to leave here knowing I don’t have to worry about Riku running all the way back. And I’m not leaving Tobio; it’s my fault we ended up here in the first place—”

“What?” Tobio cried. “No, it’s not, it was—”

“It is,” Tooru insisted, for Tobio’s sake as well as Iwaizumi’s blood pressure’s. “It is, and I want to stay and help. And that’s not gonna change even if you hit me,” he added the moment he spotted Iwaizumi’s lips parting. “If you really want to make sure I stay safe, then stay with me. We need someone to watch Riku while we deal with whatever’s coming.”

“Oh if you’re staying, then dog-watching is all you get to do,” Iwaizumi said, eyes wide and head shaking. “Don’t fight me on this, Oikawa.”

“Yeah, Oikawa-san,” Tobio said, lifting a hand up but then quickly setting it back down once Tooru’s dissatisfied frown came into view. “You should be the one to make sure that Riku’s safe. He’s not in a good place and all of this will have been for nothing if he dies anyway, so please take care of him. We know we can trust you with it. Please.”

This was manipulation if he’d ever seen it, but Tooru sighed anyway. They did have a point, and Mattsun had been right; the medicine wouldn’t make anything better if he kept running around and expending energy he didn’t have. He’d reserve it for something important, he decided, looking at Riku and listening to his tireless dog screams.

“Fine,” he growled. “But you bastards better make me proud.”

His allies answered with their own, personalized variations of a confident yes, but all Tooru really heard was Tobio, straightening up and saying, “I won’t let you down.”

Somehow, it felt right to believe him.

“You know,” Makki told Tooru as their group spread out, the rest heading off to where Inarizaki stood still convening and Makki staying behind to relinquish the restless Riku over to Tooru. “Matsukawa was joking when he said you guys were a family of three, but we’re not gonna judge you if it’s tru—”

“Shut the fuck up and go kick some ass or else just kick your own, Hanamaki Takahiro.”

“Okay, okay.” Makki grinned at him one last time despite everything before heading off.

Under no circumstances would Tooru have grinned back (his group of friends is filled with pieces of shit) but right now, it was even more exceptionally impossible. Riku’s barking and wiggling was alarming, even more alarming than it had been than when Miya had blown his summoning whistle. His voice was a million explosions in Tooru’s already-weak ears and the longer he stood there with the dog’s mouth right in front of his face, the harder it became to want to keep him contained.

Still, he tried. He rubbed the dog’s head, scratched his ears, whispered both light banter and pleas that went unheeded.

His head still ached like crazy, and so it took him a while to realize that the distant yet loud _booms_ had stopped. From where he was, he could clearly see Inarizaki’s and his own allies’ faces and stances—all on high alert despite what would be an eerie silence had it not been for Riku’s continued rampaging, and for good reason.

Wearing a cautious face of his own, Tooru hugged the dog tighter, tried to take a good look at his hostile face. If he was still unplacated even after the disappearance of the noise and the shaking, then clearly, something was still coming. And that something wasn’t anywhere near good news.

An ear-splitting hiss, a piercing shriek, a mixture of the two and in the worst kind possible, filled the air.

Tooru cried out through gritted teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, buried his pained face in Riku’s fur and held him tighter, knowing he’d wind up letting go otherwise. The sound was a knife in a single ear and out the other slicing through his brain, and it was only when he felt the hard collision of his bottom half and the ground did he realize that his legs had forgotten how to stand on their own.

The ungodly shriek came to an abrupt cease, leaving a terrible buzzing and pounding in Tooru’s ears in its wake. He managed to open his eyes to find most of his companions in his sort of state, but not much else until the trees beside them were breaking free from their roots and flying off with a large _bang_ and a harsh wind and then Tooru couldn’t see anything again, closing his eyes and rolling aside and ducking his head, making sure that not a scratch would get to land on Riku in his embrace.

Tree crashed against tree and fell to the ground and shook it. Tooru opened his eyes only to groan and shut them again as they were stung by a thick cloud of dust and smoke. Riku whimpered erratically, and all he could do while curled up around the poor thing, coughing up a lung, was gently hush him, rub his nose against the back of his furry head to assure him they were going to be all right, nothing bad would happen.

But he didn’t know if he believed that for himself. The _booms_ that were far off and gradual just minutes ago felt like they were only inches away, were fast like human footsteps were fast and yet large enough for Tooru, in a panic, to consider the possibility of the entire landmass giving out and falling into nothingness.

And when it stopped, the silence was almost as deafening as the scream, his own nervousness settling at the bottom of his throat. He had to open his eyes. They were going to die if he didn’t.

So he did.

(And immediately regretted it after.)

It was still a shadow behind the smoke of the impact, but Tooru was convinced it was a giant. A wide one without a head and compensating with a multitude of limbs instead. It was standing completely still but that was no assurance, now that other than the _boom_ of footsteps, there was a too-loud and too-regular clicking that came with the fizz of the ugly yellow cloud.

He’d heard similar noises a few times before, out in the old gardens with Iwaizumi at ten years old. He was to practice his punching and Iwaizumi was out with a net and a sense of purpose along with a newly-washed, empty jar. He could remember laughter as he accidentally punched the wall too hard and then bugs. Lots of them, all in that gross jar. But what made Iwaizumi happiest wasn’t the beetle or the ladybug or the dragonfly with the spotted wing. It was the fuzzy spider.

Tooru screamed.

All his years of training and near-death had assisted him in keeping the cry brief and making an effort, instead, to hop to his feet still keeping Riku above ground and running as far as possible from the rapidly-rising and then stomping down leg, one of eight, Tooru presumed but would rather not get the chance to see. The single step blew him out of coherency, turned his run into an imperfect roll that would have suffocated Riku had Tooru been any less prepared.

“Oikawa!”

The call of his name gave him a reason to look around, and though he was going to have to eventually, he really wished he hadn’t. The smoke was clearing out and clearly what had ambushed them with projectile trees was, indeed, one exceptionally-large spider or something similar, long-legged and coated in dark hair with shiny black eyes more massive than Tooru’s head. Its size was no detriment to its agility and coordination; it swung its legs and stomped and attempted to trample four or five at a time and moved from side to side whenever necessary almost as quickly as any of them did when engaged in a fight.

Tooru didn’t even want to think about how it jumped. He focused instead on the familiarity of Matsukawa’s face, thick eyebrows scrunched up as he wildly gestured in a vague direction. “Get back!” he yelled. “Get behind something!”

Their monster apparently didn’t like the instruction very much. He let out another horrible scream, shaking Tooru’s insides and bringing him down to his knees, but he wasn’t about to go down again. Letting out a cry of effort of his own, Tooru rose, adjusted his slipping hold on Riku, and ran behind the sturdiest-looking tree he could find.

He leaned against it, crouching down should one of the thing’s legs take it one step too far, and tried to find air to breathe. It was crawling with dust and dirt and still-floating soil, smothering. He threw a hand over his mouth to filter it, maybe to keep from throwing up while he was at it, and tried to zero in on the noises from the battlefield he’d just left behind.

The monster was howling, moving about, no doubt, and he could hear indistinct yelling in voices he both did and didn’t recognize. He closed his eyes and listened, tried to determine if there was anyone no longer upright, searched for signs of success or failure, strained his ear to hear Tobio’s voice, wanting to know whether or not he, with all his injuries and fatigue, fighting for hours and running on no sleep, was all right.

He had Iwaizumi and the others and even Inarizaki on his side, Tooru knew, but that was only further cause of worry. Tobio was indomitable, a genius, but he was all of that all alone. Tooru could still remember the days he’d stepped on the mat, arguing with his teammates during a public exercise about how to do this and where to do that. Everyone had thought it one giant shame, and he was no exception.

_(“You know, that Novice trainee Kageyama Tobio is a shame. His skills are top-tier and his intuition is god-like, but he can’t seem to find a way to fight alongside other Slayers.”)_

Tooru listened and listened, wanted to hear Tobio heeding instruction and see him executing it perfectly, in perfect sync with the other fighters around him. Tooru wanted to see the poise only Tobio had, the elegant way he swung and jumped that was almost a rehearsed dance, see him dancing at peace with everyone else. He wanted to see him boosting others up, assisting, getting assisted, fighting with all his heart in ways that the television and the far up of the spectator bleachers couldn’t capture.

_(“Maybe someday he’ll find an alliance that he’ll learn to love to work with.”)_

Tooru bit his lip. He wanted to go out there and fight with him.

Riku let out another yap, startling Tooru into opening his eyes, but he tightened his hold a fraction of a second too late. His entire body tensed as Riku bounded out of his lap and ran back into the chaotic fray, one that would surely leave him crushed if Tooru was one step too late.

“Riku!” he cried out, every other thought aside, following without hesitation.

Every swipe of the monster’s leg was a new cloud of soil flying into Tooru’s face, and he launched himself back onto the battleground with a hand in front of his mouth, never mind that it muffled his yelling out for their dog. Once again, Riku had managed to get too far too quickly and Tooru could no longer see him anywhere near their earlier tree. He grimaced, narrowly-avoided a single stamp of giant leg, and ran aside, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for dark fur and aggressive barking. Riku had to at least be barking.

But he couldn’t hear anything apart from the buzzing in his ear and the monstrous noises and the sound of fighting that came from every direction. The sound of metal against metal or something just as hard. He walked briskly, jogged every now and again and around the perimeter that the creature took up, waving dust away from his face in an effort not to choke on it. He called out every now and again yet received no reply each time.

“Ri—”

His millionth cry was cut off by a heavy body barrelling against his and both of them were falling, Tooru on his back and breaking the fall of whoever it was that got lucky enough to be this harshly shoved into him. The part of his head he’d held a compress to not too long ago crashed against the ground, but thankfully the undignified sound he’d made was drowned out by the commotion and the explosion of colour that drowned Tooru’s vision was brief.

“Shit. I’m so sorry. Oikawa-san, are you okay?”

The voice practically peeled Tooru’s eyes open. Tobio was urgently clambering off of him even while their eyes were locked, and his were wide with (dare Tooru say) concern.

Tooru swallowed, winced as he was helped upright. “I’m dying. You?”

He looked worse off than he did when the fighting started, sporting a few new bruises here and there and no doubt something worse where Tooru couldn’t see (and Tooru frowned at them; how many more was he going to have to endure by the time this was over?), but he gave a quick shrug. “I’m fine, but what are you doing out here? Matsukawa-san said he told you to get back. Where’s Riku?”

An odd projectile hurtling towards his legs cut off any chance of a reply, and Tooru abruptly moved back, barely missing what looked to be a large mass of sticky, clear fluid. He groaned and gritted his teeth in an attempt not to gag and rose to his feet, pulled Tobio into a relatively safer, further away spot but kept his eyes on the disarray before him.

“He ran off,” he admitted, still ceaselessly scanning the area for the the dog in question. “We were hiding but I let my guard down and now he’s—I don’t know where he is, I can’t hear him—”

“Okay, stay here, I’ll find him—”

“No! I was the one on his watch; I have to be the one to find him—”

“Oikawa-san, this isn’t the time to—”

_“Holy fuck.”_

Tooru abruptly turned away from Tobio and immediately found Miya Atsumu standing completely still, eyebrows screwed up, gaping up at the monster like the atrocity had just now arrived in his line of vision. But it wasn’t that particular atrocity he was reacting to—something Tooru only discovered when he followed the man’s gaze and finally found Riku, teeth latched onto one of the spider’s legs, somehow not doing any damage, and not letting go for anything, even as he was wildly swung around and up.

And then down.

“ _Riku!”_ Tooru shrieked.

He was only able to take a single step forward before both Tobio and Miya were running, Miya who was closer to Riku’s position managing to get there first, managing to grab a hold of Riku but allowing himself to get slammed onto the ground in the process. The sound was deafening but Tooru still heard his strangled scream. He’d been nothing but an inconvenience since the previous day but Tooru followed Tobio running to him, hoping that the blow hadn’t crushed anything important.

Miya was wheezing by the time they got to him, still alive and able to move somewhat but left without any strength to keep Riku in his grasp. Tooru tried to make a grab for the dog as Tobio facilitated Miya’s momentary retreat but he was too quick, unaffected by something that could’ve killed him had his earlier pursuer not stepped in, and like nothing had happened he was barking at the giant, and then at Miya, before stealing the pouch in his hands and running off.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Miya managed through his ragged breathing.

“Riku!” Tooru and Tobio yelled at the same time, but their last syllable was blatantly overshadowed by another piercing screech from the monster, leaving Tooru nothing but a mess curled up on his knees and clutching at his ears like he wanted to tear them off.

He looked up right as the monster jumped, rose at least fifty feet above the ground and landed at least a hundred away from where it previously stood.

Tooru felt all his bones turn to jelly.

“Shit,” Tobio muttered, vacating his place next to Miya and bolting off further into the forest. Tooru’s allies and several other members of Inarizaki followed suit, Tooru himself sparing a moment to check on Miya still on the ground with his face contorted in utter anguish.

“No, go on, I’m good, I’m perfect, I’m living down here,” he said once he forced a single eye open and found Tooru looking at him.

“Thank you,” Tooru told him, running off after his disgusted moan.

He was nowhere near feeling better but Tooru ran as fast as his legs would carry him anyway, bearing the load of his supply-stuffed backpack as he ran past tree after tree and expertly jumped over every obstacle, eventually finding his way next to Hanamaki, newly-recovered from a boot caught on a persistent vine on the ground, it seemed.

“Did Inarizaki manage to come up with a strategy?” Tooru asked as they sprinted, side-by-side, at full speed.

“Sort of. Not much of a strategy,” Hanamaki replied, breathing shaky as they went, “but the ultimate goal is to secure the bomb—”

“ _Bomb?_ What bomb?”

“The cube you were holding. Apparently it’s a volatile and super powerful bomb. Volatile in a sense that there isn’t really a specific way to detonate it. Rub it the wrong way and it can go off.”

Tooru tripped over his own feet and barely managed to escape falling face-first on the ground with sheer experience, suddenly feeling the cold of the metal on his hand all over again. “What the _fuck,_ I was holding a volatile bomb!” he cried.

“Well, they did tell you not to mess with it. Anyway, we need to secure the bomb on the big guy somehow—because trust me, we are not gonna get her any other way; she looks hairy and fleshy but those legs are like steel—and then we need to get her someplace far enough from the rest of us so that we don’t get caught up in the boom, because it’s gonna be a pretty big boom, if how dark they were being earlier wasn’t just acting.”

“How the hell are we—” Tooru didn’t stop running, senses still following the too-conspicuous steps of their enemy target, but his eyes went wide as a brief image of the cliffside and unreal heights he and Tobio had scaled earlier flashed in his mind. “The void!”

“Excuse me?”

“You are not going to believe this, but somewhere in this forest, there is this _ridiculous_ cliff—like, the drop is so high that you can’t see where it ends and it looks like a gateway straight to the center of the earth and beyond. If we can manage to lure that thing there maybe we won’t even need the bomb, she can just fall straight to hell forever—”

_“Oikawa!”_

Hanamaki’s hand briefly brushing against his arm was the last thing Tooru felt as the ground beneath him disappeared, the sight of it replaced by a rocky recess hundreds of feet below.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgot to update this last friday lmao can you tell just how lazy i am with it. you'll find out why someday, maybe. last chapter goes up on friday for sure tho!! why? check the calendar
> 
> || [tumblr](http://kakkoweeb.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/diecrotic) | [writing journal](https://diecrotic.dreamwidth.org/) | [instagram bc why not](https://www.instagram.com/diecrotic/) ||


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY BB TOBIO I AM SO SORRY THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO OFFER YOU AS A GIFT THIS YEAR DFSDKFSK i have been operating at 1% all day i couldn't even celebrate properly i'm getting too old to be a parent to such an amazing child. but anyway, here's the last chapter of this thing. and last call to [look at](http://kakkoweeb.tumblr.com/post/168521952831/fic-update-oikage-big-bang) [the art](http://hetaliabunnyart.tumblr.com/post/168082986588/oddity-a-rarity-by-kakkoweeb) if you haven't yet.
> 
> VERY SPECIAL THANKS to my lovely big bang partner [hetaliabunnyart](http://hetaliabunnyart.tumblr.com/) for supporting this fic as it was conceptualized and written. thanks to the admin of the event as well, for organizing!

He’d always imagined his death as something grand. The setting wasn’t necessarily dramatic but it would be borne out of a fight, one where he was reduced to a desperate, hardly-breathing mess simply looking to get out with his heart still beating, completely content with losing everything else. He would have an opponent, a powerful one that looked upon him without mercy, ready to take his crown. And looking back up at them would be terrifying, irritating, and intoxicating all at the same time.

There were a number of people who could fit the description, a good few individuals whom Tooru thought would manage to overpower him not only physically, and the shade of blue with which his fantasies were rendered was enough for Tooru to acknowledge that, yes, Tobio did fit into that criteria, and a little too well.

Since childhood, he’d been a monster, seeking nothing but improvement on his journey to the top, willing to cannibalize anything and anyone for his goals. It had always been terrifying, and possibly the only valid backer to the fear that sat in the back of Tooru’s mind, the fear that one day Tobio would stand above him and take his life.

The last thing he expected to happen was for Tobio to stand above him and save it.

His face was contorted with difficulty, half of his body dangling over the edge of the forest across from where Tooru had sprung from, a single hand holding onto a stone the only thing barring the both of them from a death via rocks to the brain. He had his hand tightly gripped around the forearm of Tooru’s bad hand, the hold slipping millimeters at a time the longer he kept it there.

“Oikawa-san,” he managed to choke out even while devoid of air, “you need—you need to hold onto me tighter so I can pull you up.”

Breathing hard, his body slowly lowering towards the fall, heart beating faster than what was allowable, Tooru wrapped his bandaged hand around Tobio’s forearm in turn, only to let go at once with a harsh groan.

“Fuck, shit, that hurts,” he hissed.

“Kageyama!” Tooru couldn’t turn his head to save his life but the voice was definitely Iwaizumi’s, coming from a little further away than Tobio’s. He must’ve still been on the other side. “We can jump over and help you, but will you be able to move aside?”

Tobio was panting as he shook his head. “I can’t,” he called back. “I’ll pull him up by myself, I promise, but Oikawa-san—” He lowered his voice to address Tooru alone “—you have to hold onto me better. Can you do it with your other hand?”

Tooru tried to bring his other arm up, letting out a small, startled noise as Tobio’s hold on his arm slid up to his wrist. “Both our hands are sweaty!” he complained. “This isn’t going to make anything better.”

“It will! I can pull you up easier!”

“It’s just going to slip and I’m going to fall and end up dragging you with me!”

Something on Tobio’s face changed, but Tooru was concentrated on so many other things all at the same time that he couldn’t muster the power to decipher what it was. "Well, that was my guarantee from the start, right?"

_("If I let you fall, I’m bringing myself down with you.")_

"Just grab me in the best way you can," he continued. "And I’ll take care of the rest. It’s my fault we’re here and that your hand is the way it is, but please trust me."

Trust. Because of his condition and circumstance and blatant lack of options, that was all Tooru had been doing these last few hours. Trusting that Tobio wouldn’t stab him in the back in a dark forest, trusting that he could keep Riku safe, trusting that they could bridge next to borderline nothingness and survive, trusting Tobio with his life again and again even after he’d attempted to take it. It was frustrating, how much of his trust he’d already given, how much of his trust Tobio alone had already received. And yet he didn’t know whether Tobio had any to give or if Tooru’d even done anything to deserve it.

He felt so weak. Hanging above certain death like an idiot only because Tobio had been filling all the holes he’d been so carelessly drilling. When exactly did he get so unreliable?

“Fine!” Tooru snarled. “But this is the _last time_ I’m gonna need to hear that from you, do you understand?”

This was the last time that he was going to need Tobio’s help, and the last time he was going to tolerate being instructed something he’d already accomplished. He didn’t speak out either of these meanings, but Tobio’s eyes were shrinking anyway, wearing something akin to a smile that couldn’t quite reach his lips amidst his struggles.

“Okay,” he said, and Tooru took a breath, brought his free hand to feebly hold onto Tobio’s arm, and had the other let go.

He felt himself slipping immediately, faster than before, but he didn’t let himself flail. And just as quickly, his hand was finding Tobio’s and holding onto it tighter than he’d ever held anything and then with a single, drawn-out grunt of effort he was being hauled up by a single arm. Tobio’s face was one of utter agony, his hand holding onto the stone painting itself red from the exertion, but he didn’t stop until Tooru was high enough to get a leg back onto the surface and didn’t let go until they’d rolled far enough away from the edge.

If it were anyone else, Tooru might have come in for a hug, but he settled for simply catching his breath and wishing away his own light-headedness by Tobio’s side.

“Thank you,” he did manage to say.

There was a pause, one so powerful Tooru almost physically felt it nudge him in the side, and then Tobio was sitting up. “Uhh,” he said, all confidence and bravado from the heroic act he’d just completed gone with the wind. He stared at the few blades of grass below them like he didn’t know what else to do with himself. “Uh. You too?”

Tooru made a face. “For what?”

“Uh. For, um, thanking me? I don’t know, we—we need to go get Riku.” He got on his feet and gestured further into the new forest area, not making any eye contact whatsoever. “He jumped that gap and went this way. I’m gonna go get him.”

“All of us are here to go—wait—Tobio!”

He could only watch as Tobio hastily pressed on, the abruptness and oddity of the retreat shaking him enough to rise and follow, listening for the comforting footsteps of his allies behind him and for the horrifying _booms_ of both monstrous steps and the fall of trees ahead.

They still had to get rid of the monster, he remembered, and he sped his run up (fever medicine, watch over him) until he could once again see Tobio’s sprinting back. He grabbed the latter’s backpack once he was close enough and sent Tobio briefly stumbling backward to run beside him.

“Whoa! What?” he yelled in minor panic as he was dragged.

“Don’t run so far ahead of me all of a sudden! I just remembered I have an idea,” Tooru said, able to note the redness of Tobio’s ears even through the very quick glance he’d thrown. He didn’t think lifting heavy loads concentrated blood around that area. “The plan is to bomb that thing and get away fast, right? We could lure it down that stupidly-high cliff we saw earlier!”

The tension on Tobio’s face eased with the realization. “Yeah, that’d get rid of it for sure. And it’ll be safer for the forest too.”

“Yeah, exactly! Now the question is—”

Another shriek reduced Tooru’s words to gusts of wind, and against their will, the pair of them stopped to hold their hands to their ears, felt like they were going to drop dead otherwise. Tooru managed to lift one of his eyelids as his system bore with the noise. The thing had to be up ahead and dealing with another struggle.

Before the noise could end, Tooru let his hand fall to Tobio’s sleeve to drag him forward, not willing to waste any more time. They carried on running, grinding their teeth together to keep their legs working despite the god-awful piercing in their eardrums, stopping only when they eventually reached a crouched man in black.

Riseki, Tooru realized the closer they got. They crouched beside him. “What’s going on?”

His skin was covered in untreated scratches and bites that Tooru tried not to wince at. “They told me to sit back here a while,” he told them, evidently unhappy, “but Atsumu-san’s pet isn’t moving—”

“Atsumu-san’s _pet_?” Tobio repeated incredulously, his voice conveying enough surprise and puzzlement for the two of them.

“Oh, right, you don’t know yet. You can ask him for the story later, but your dog is hiding inside this hole under a tree and Koi—ah, the pet—can’t reach him from there so she’s been trying to knock the tree down since she got here. I’m not sure why she can’t either, but they’re gonna use the opportunity to try and trap her. Maybe you guys can help. Kita-san and the others are around there.”

Decidedly ignoring the fact that the monster was something Miya Atsumu had domesticated and even named, Tooru nodded and grabbed hold of Tobio’s arm once again as they rose together, took silent steps around Koi (apparently; jeez, Miya) to bring themselves to the rest of Inarizaki’s side.

They managed to find Kita first, and he was watching the animal closely, two tiny syringes tangled in between his fingers.

“Oh, you two,” he said when they fell into view. “Where’s Atsumu?”

“He said to leave him behind back there,” Tooru answered. “He’ll probably catch up in a little while.”

“And have either of you seen Osamu and Suna?”

Tooru stiffened, tried to keep his eyes straight instead of directing them towards Tobio. “Uhh, not recently,” he simply said, and then he eyed the needles in Kita’s hands. “What are those for?”

“It looks like Koi’s going to be busy here for a little while,” he said. A little ways ahead of them, Koi hollered, a single long leg knocking against the tree that Tooru supposed was housing Riku. Crazy dog. “She’s only using one of her legs right now, so this is the perfect opportunity to tranquilize the other seven. Problem is, there are only seven of us here and Riseki’s not in condition to be doing anything this risky, so that leaves us with six.”

“I can do it,” Tooru volunteered, pointedly before Tobio could.

He obviously wasn’t happy, glared at Tooru at the same time Kita did. “Oikawa-san, you’re not in condition to be doing anything this risky either. You’re still sick.”

“I nearly fell down a cliff, Tobio,” he replied, as if Tobio needed any further reminding. “I’m pretty sure I’ve done more than half of the risky things I need to stay away from. Besides.” He eyed the visible patches of Tobio’s skin, natural and through ripped clothing alike. “You’re not exactly operating at a hundred percent either.”

“At least I don’t hallucinate,” Tobio retorted.

“I didn’t hallucinate! And I’m not anymore, so let me do something for yo—for once,” Tooru corrected quickly, facing Kita and extending a hand that he might put the syringe on before Tobio could realize his slip of tongue and, worse, react.

Kita himself looked skeptical, but he handed Tooru one of the syringes regardless. “What are you sick of?” he asked.

“Eh. High fever, or something.”

“Huh.” He snuck a peak in between his cover of leaves of varying shapes and origins. “You’re a lot more talented than people give you credit for.”

Tooru blinked, kept his inevitable smile small.

“This is going to be a quiet mission,” Kita continued, all business. “If we startle her, we’re definitely going to get kicked away or poisoned, so we need to approach as quickly yet quietly as possible. Find yourself a spot near a leg that no one’s manned yet, and keep your eye on my area for when I give the signal. That’s your cue to get within a good distance of your chosen leg as quietly as you can. A good distance meaning you can make a break for it if need be but you’re also close enough to grab the leg in a single short jump, and close enough to be able to find the small holes in her skin, because it’s too tough to penetrate in just some random place. We’re going to stay crouched for this, by the way. Once we’re all out and Koi hasn’t detected us, I’m going to give another signal and that’s when we all inject. Understand?”

“Yeah,” Tooru said, “but what is this? How long is it going to affect her?”

“It’s only for people, since—of course—nobody knows that creatures as big as this even exist, so I estimate it’s probably going to have at most half of the intended effect. Fifteen minutes, I’m guessing. Within that time, we need to have been able to come up with a more specific plan.”

“Oikawa-san has one,” Tobio said immediately.

“Does he?” Kita said, alternating glances between Tobio’s eager face and Tooru’s disoriented one. “And he’s told you?”

“Yes.”

“All right. You can tell me about it while Oikawa goes to find his post.” Kita turned to Tooru. “Tell whoever’s beside you to start a message train when you’re all settled in.”

“Got it,” Tooru said, getting up to run but keeping his back low and his body hidden.

Koi attacking a single tree was a sight to behold, Tooru thought as he moved about, trying to find a spot that no member of Inarizaki had occupied. She was surrounded by several other trees that she’d successfully uprooted, no problem, and yet no matter how many blows Riku’s tree withstood, it never went down. Tooru caught a glimpse of the dog inside the tree hollow, barking but thoroughly out of reach, protected.

He really was an insane dog. A miracle-worker. Tooru wondered what it would be like to have him at home.

Once he’d settled into a vacant spot, he did as he was told, got a message train going, and watched and waited. The thing was so fixated on Riku that their stealth and silence almost seemed unnecessary. Her leg banging against the tree was louder than any crack of a twig and seemed to shake the entirety of the earth Tooru stood on and it didn’t seem to have an intent of stopping anytime soon, for anything. They could probably use that information for something later on.

An arm shot out from one of the walls of plants, hand spread out and then fingers curling inwards as if to invite him to come closer, and Tooru found himself quietly approaching the frustrated creature along with the rest of Inarizaki, synchronization almost too perfect. Their bodies and clothes made sounds against the ground and leaves, but Koi screamed herself away, bore down on Riku and his tree like there was nothing else in the world. Tooru took a moment to find one of the holes that Kita talked about, focused on the first one he spotted.

Kita met all of their eyes one at a time. He nodded.

And then all seven of them were taking one leap forward and grabbing a hairy leg and stabbing into it where they knew it would count, the timing nothing but spot-on. Koi’s shrieks increased in both urgency and volume and she thrashed around, weaker than earlier, and as Tooru backed away he glimpsed Tobio watching them. Watching him, and with the most excited eyes that Tooru had ever seen on him.

His heart pounded once, and he looked away just in time to see Miya’s pet’s larger than-life-legs shrivelling up and her even larger body dropping to the ground. The single leg that hadn’t been dealt with threw a futile tantrum.

She shrieked again, but Tooru bore with the sound of it in favour of watching his allies, along with Suna and Miya Osamu carrying his twin on his back, emerging from the sidelines.

“Ahh, Koi,” Atsumu whined.

“That thing has a name?” Iwaizumi demanded.

“Explanations of Atsumu’s stupidity later,” Kita cut in, ignored Atsumu’s weak protest. Tobio took position beside him like he belonged there. “We only have a short time before she gets back on all of her feet, so listen. Apparently Oikawa and Kageyama found the bottomless pit to the west while wandering and suggested that we use the bomb on Koi there.”

“We’re pushing her off with the bomb? Why can’t we just push her off alone? It’s the bottomless pit, anyway,” Aran said.

“The ‘bottomless’ in ‘bottomless pit’ is still contestable, unless you can confirm that it leads nowhere, Aran,” Kita replied, and Aran seemed to shrink somewhat. “We can never be too careful, so it’s better that if she falls through it, she falls through it dead.”

“Wait, so this thing is a pet named Koi,” Matsukawa said, looking at Atsumu. “Yours. You’re really all right with killing her?”

Atsumu made a face. “Ehh. Well. If I had a say in it, I wouldn’t, but I didn’t know she was going to get this big and violent. If I let her live, she’s going to end up killing someone plus everything in this entire forest, and I don’t want that. If it’s to keep everyone safe, then she—she has to go.”

“How could you _not_ know she was going to get this big? What, did you buy her from one of those shady people on the streets that sell the homegrown underwater rubber pets or something?”

His face went from despairing to affronted within a moment’s notice. “I— _no_ ,” Atsumu spluttered, breaking eye contact and locking his arms tighter around Osamu’s, who rolled his eyes, neck. Well, that was probably why he was so intent on keeping all this secret. Idiot. “I’m—I don’t— _Kita-san said details later._ There’s still a problem with that plan. How are we gonna get Koi all the way to the pit from here?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Tooru said, projecting his voice as best he could no matter how feeble it was at the moment. All eyes followed him as he ducked underneath Koi’s remaining active leg and motioned for Riku to run into his arms. The dog yipped and obeyed straightaway; _good boy._ “For some reason, your pet is really bent on trying to get ours. If we can get her to follow Riku all the way to the void—or, the pit, whatever—and then get him out of the way in time to push her in, then problem solved.”

“What, you’re gonna have him run all the way to the pit by himself? Does he even know where it is?”

“He can’t run it by himself!” Tobio stepped forward before Tooru could respond. “Who knows where he might get to? And he’s too fast; we’re not gonna be able to get him out of the way in time if he goes ahead of us. I’ll go with him.”

Tooru narrowed his eyes. “You? Again?”

Tobio blinked at him, already furrowed brows moving closer together. “Is there a problem with that?” he asked slowly, neither being rude nor being friendly.

“You’re already covered in wounds and you haven’t slept or eaten since I first saw you yesterday afternoon, you’ve literally nearly died eighty times in the last few hours, you’ve been fighting non-stop since we saw Inarizaki again, _you lifted me with a single arm,_ and you’re _still_ volunteering yourself for this even though it might be the most dangerous thing anyone’s ever going to have to do? Aren’t you being a little too heroic?”

“I’m not being _heroic;_ I’m just willing,” Tobio defended.

“I’m pretty sure all of us here are willing, so why can’t you just sit back this time?”

It wasn’t supposed to be coming out like this. Tooru wasn’t angry, he wasn’t, but his voice and his face and his feet taking firm steps towards Tobio as if challenging him all made him seem like he was. He didn’t want Tobio to take the starring role, the position of hero risking life and limb all the damn time anymore. He wanted Tobio to know that, but the delivery wasn’t supposed to sound like this.

“What do you have against me? Am I still too incapable for you? Haven’t I proven myself enough?”

That wasn’t it. “You have! You have, and it sucks!” That wasn’t it; what was he saying? “How many times have you saved my sorry ass today alone? You’ve proven how good you are, if that’s just what you’re worried about—”

“Then what’s your problem? You’re afraid I’m stealing your spotlight?”

That wasn’t it either. “No!”

“You are! You’ve been afraid of that since forever! Don’t think I didn’t figure that out!”

“Well, what was I supposed to do when everyday at training felt like you were some kind of—of—” This was beside the point, it wasn’t related to their current objective, why was he being so defensive? ”—shadow about to eat me alive while I wasn’t looking?”

“Why are you so scared of becoming irrelevant?” Tobio screamed.

“Because what else do we have?” Tooru screamed back.

“Guys,” Hanamaki warned.

“Nothing! I know! But that’s not my point!” Tobio’s voice penetrated Tooru’s system and throbbed in his ears and chest more than the monster’s footsteps did. “The spotlight is always on you! It’s never going to leave. I’m never going to take it from you, because—because you’re you! You’re amazing, you work harder than anyone else I know—I’m not enough to make you irrelevant, and you’re never going to be irrelevant to me! No matter how many heroic things I do.”

His words made Tooru feel like the ground was shaking, made him want to cover his ears and shut his eyes but also made him want to fly. But this wasn’t what they were supposed to be talking about. This wasn’t why he didn’t want Tobio to be the hero this time. He didn’t want Tobio getting wounded anymore, bleeding any more, pushed to the brim when he was probably already so close. How could he make everyone realize that? “I—” he tried, absolutely breathless. “You can’t go!”

“ _Why not?_ What do you want?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know what I want! I don’t want anything! I just know that I _don’t_ want you to get hurt anymore—”

Another blood-curdling scream ripped through the air, drowning out Tooru’s words but not quite getting him to fall to his knees. He held tighter onto Riku and took what felt like the first inhale he’d breathed in hours, could only watch and move one step at a time, backward, as Koi’s bent, still legs began twitching, one at a time and a few at a time, preparing to revert back to their original shape.

They’d wasted all their time. They were going to have to do this now.

Tobio’s eyes looked both livid and terrified as he took laboured breath after laboured breath, staring at Oikawa and slowly reaching for Riku against his chest. “Oikawa-san, please give me Riku,” he requested in a low whisper.

Tooru stared back at him, took one step back for each step he was taking forward.

“Oikawa-san,” he called again, fiercer, “ _please_ give me Riku.”

Koi’s last leg cracked right into place, and Tooru turned and ran.

_“Oikawa-san!”_

He ignored the horrified scream, focused on keeping his footwork as fast and efficient as possible, held onto Riku like he was the final remaining semblance of comfort in this life and clutched at the pouch trapped between the dog’s teeth like it would save all their lives. And if he played this right, it would, though perhaps not all of them.

“Oikawa!” he heard from behind him, even above the monstrous roar and _booms_ getting closer and closer. “You’re going north! Head a little more west!”

Without slowing down even a little, Tooru turned on his heel and did so, unzipping the bag and getting a tight handhold on the bomb.

His surroundings were all fast-moving blurs, passing too quickly to be comfortable to his dwindling vision and reeling head. His hand was starting to hurt for no reason, his head felt numb, his thighs and all the rest of his skin were burning and burning _hot_ but he kept himself going, tried to focus on the course he was running and to qualify what he would do the moment he’d be allowed to stop.

Running this fast and stopping abruptly at the edge right before what they called a bottomless pit—he probably wouldn’t be able to do it.

But breathing hard and rushing through tree after tree with the wind whipping his face like it was questioning everything he’d ever done and said, Tooru found that it was all right. It wasn’t quite the same as fighting a rival to the death, but it still somehow felt like he would be going down in a blaze of glory, falling down an eternal depth after an explosion with a ridiculous giant spider-esque thing and maybe even a dog. More important than the appearance of it, however, was the fact that he’d have saved an entire forest, the acclaimed Inarizaki alliance, his best friends, and Kageyama Tobio.

Kageyama Tobio, whom he’d just successfully outrun and out-heroed and very nearly admitted to caring about back there.

Kageyama Tobio, who’d been a heavy weight around his ankle but was now a hand he could grab when he was teetering at the borders of life and lame death.

Kageyama Tobio, who was grabbing him from behind and turning him and then wrapping him in a rough embrace and dragging him down to the ground.

The speed at which they’d both been going had them rolling a good few yards further west, rolling against each other with their eyes shut tight and Riku sandwiched between them. Tooru felt himself crushing the both of them as their combined forms skidded to a stop, but couldn’t do anything other than cough away the cloud that had resulted from their slide, and stare at Tobio below him for a good while.

His eye was black, his cheeks were red, but Tooru couldn’t look away.

“You fucking—” Tobio wheezed. “ _Asshole.”_ His chest was rising and falling too heavily. “There was no way—you were going to be able to stop—at the rate you were going. You were going to fall for sure.”

“Well, how slow—do you want me to go?” Tooru wheezed right back, coughed a few more times in the process. “You saw how Koi—fucking _jumps.”_

He felt Riku whine and slip out from underneath him, felt chest and stomach collide with Tobio’s to fill the space he’d left. Their pained, inconvenienced groans were short-lived, cut ultimately by their own urgency at the sound of approaching ground-shaking footsteps and Riku’s wild barking. Tooru pushed himself off of Tobio and attempted to crawl towards the bomb cube, fallen a few feet away, only to get dragged back down to the ground.

“No!” Tobio said, keeping a tight grip on the hem of his shirt. “I just said you’re not gonna be able to do this and make it out alive. Let me do it!”

“And you’re a hundred percent sure _you’re_ gonna make it out alive, are you?” Tooru tried to jerk his body away.

Tobio pulled harder. “No, but I have better chances! All _you_ have is a fever!”

“Tobio, let go of my shirt; you’re going to break it!”

“Stop trying to get to the bomb and just let me handle it!”

“Did you not—” Tooru shoved him away only for the lower half of his body to get tackled. “Ugh! Did you not hear any of the embarrassing shit that I said earlier?

“I did! And I feel the same about you, so what’s your point?”

All of Tooru’s insides jumped, his supposed next words imprisoned and festering at the bottom of his throat. It felt like something was squeezing his head and pressing his entire body against a radiator, but he turned a blind eye to all of the sensations, turned away from Tobio and tried to kick him off his already-tired legs.

“Let me go!” he yelled, hoping it would drown out the loud thumping in his chest.

“No!”

Tooru hooked his fingernails into the soil, desperately tried to crawl away from Tobio obstinately crushing his stomach and crawling with him. “Fucking— _get off me, we’re all going to die like this!”_

“We won’t if you just stop being stubborn and let me do it!”

“She’s getting closer!”

“I know! Let me—”

Right as Tobio had forcefully used him as leverage to hoist himself above the ground, Riku barked right in his face as if to startle him enough to send him back down, and then like the maniac of an animal he was, like a giant _fuck you two slow humans,_ he took the cube into his mouth and wasted no time in running away with it.

Their collective scream was as unintelligible as it was disregarded.

Tobio cursed, for the second time attempting to get up and for the second time dropping back down, his body shaken along with the ground as Koi finally appeared, sending trees flying and falling in her wake. One sailed right above their heads and Tooru ducked his, shoved Tobio’s down, waited until Koi finished stepping over them, her body so high up that theirs almost seemed like part of the ground.

Once he was sure they weren’t going to get crushed, Tooru rushed to his feet and dragged Tobio up by the neckline. “Come on!”

Without complaint, Tobio followed along before he could stabilize his own legs and posture, the both of them sprinting at top speed with their eyes nowhere but ahead, their lips sealed tight. But they didn’t need any words; his own fear, Tooru felt swirling around in his bloodstream, chilling his fever-hot everything. And Tobio’s he could feel on the surface of his skin, heavy against his limbs.

They needed to catch up, no matter what. Otherwise there was no telling what could happen.

“Oikawa! Tobio-kun!” Atsumu’s voice called from behind them, and without slowing his pace, Tooru craned his neck and found Miya Atsumu, still perched on his twin brother’s back as Osamu dashed at nearly the same speed as Tooru and Tobio were. He looked short of breath and, quite frankly, close to collapse, but Atsumu slapped his arm the moment he slowed. Tooru heard his irate groan from where he was. “It’s not far now, so be on your guard. Where’s the bomb?”

“With Riku again!” Tooru yelled from over his shoulder.

“ _Are you serious?_ Faster, ‘Samu, go faster!”

“ _Treat me like a horse and I will kick you like one.”_

Atsumu wasn’t lying; the more he ran, the louder Koi’s powerful screams and stomps got. He felt his heart beating faster than it already was. She hadn’t fallen yet, which meant there was a chance that Riku hadn’t either. It was good news with a hint of terrifying, said hint accounting for the possibility that Riku had been killed in some other, in-land way, but Tooru wasn’t going to think about that.

Instead, he kept his gaze forward, searched for signs of some spider-like giant brutalizing a dog, and eventually, he managed to spot her hairy body through the trees. She was restless, that much was clear, moving about in the same way she was when there were some ten humans attempting to get into her personal space. She struck the ground without hesitation, sent both Tobio and Tooru briefly stumbling from the tremor.

She must have had Riku trapped again. Tooru surged forward, calling for him.

There was no bark in answer but he leapt over fallen tree after fallen tree anyway, no consideration towards stopping until he was right where Koi was, right where Riku should’ve been alongside her.

He wasn’t there.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, making the most out of being unnoticed, Tooru looked around. What should’ve been a cliffside near packed to the brim with trees had so easily become a wasteland of uprooted flora and crudely-made holes and cracks in the earth. Tobio came to a stop beside him, his last few steps slower and silent, his breaths just as laboured. Riku was nowhere to be seen.

Tobio looked around with him. “Where’s Riku?” he whispered.

The words grabbed the vigilant Koi’s attention regardless and she screamed, turned far too nimbly for a creature of that size, and brought up two of her legs only to rapidly bring them back down over Tobio’s and Tooru’s heads. Tooru quickly held an arm out but as he pushed Tobio out of harm’s way he was pushed right back, sent tipping to the side and rolling where he wouldn’t be hit.

Great minds really did think alike, he thought as he rose to a crouch.

“What the hell, how did she hear that?” Tobio cried once it was clear the need for low volumes had fallen down into the void in Koi’s stead.

Tooru didn’t reply, knowing it didn’t matter. He shrugged his backpack off and brought out his long-since-abandoned knife, swiped it against a fallen tree just to test. _Finally_ it would be able to stab something, not that small wounds could do much against such colossal legs, and not that a measly knife would be able to wound such hard skin, but maybe it’d help.

He dove away when Koi attempted another jab at his stomach and Tobio’s at the same time, quickly scratched a leg that wasn’t trying to kill him and watched as it effected absolutely nothing, only generated a light _clang_. He bit his lip as he rolled further underneath her, stood up and stabbed at what could’ve been her stomach—he didn’t know spider anatomy—only to discover that it was just as hard as the rest of her.

And that it could part like lips and reveal razor-sharp teeth plus a deafening wail.

“ _WHOA!”_ he cried, drawing out the last syllable and turning the exclamation into a full-blown scream. He rushed out and in between two legs right as all eight closed in on his previous spot in an attempt to crush him inside. The sound the improvised, metal-flesh cage made as it closed sent him desperately scrambling towards Tobio, who looked amazed and repulsed at the same time.

“ _Okay, no,”_ Tooru cried, “ _don’t go under there; it’s a death trap within a death trap.”_

“Did you get to hurt her?” Tobio asked, ushering the both of them a few steps away as Koi howled and attempted to stretch.

“No! It’s not any softer and she has the mouth of an angler fish down there!”

“Well, no wonder we need a bomb to kill her off.”

“Yes, an astute observation, now _where the hell is Riku?_ ”

Koi didn’t take kindly to their leisurely conversation. She screamed again before clicking the teeth of her smaller, visible mouth (how the _fuck_ did she have two?) and spitting out that clear liquid again, right where he was slumped against Tobio’s legs. They scattered.

“What do you mean, ‘ _where the hell is Riku?’”_ Atsumu said the minute his twin underneath him stepped onto the scene. “You lost your dog?”

“He ran ahead, okay, and now he’s just not here and we can’t hear him,” Tooru explained, unable to help feeling a little incompetent. “But—we’re here now, right? So let’s just try and push her in and maybe the rest’ll work itself out?”

“Well, since we don’t have the bomb, that’s exactly what we’re gonna have to do,” Atsumu said, his eyes cold as he stared at his rampaging once-pet. “We didn’t come this far just to quit now.”

“Okay, so here’s the plan,” Osamu below him said, “I launch Atsumu on top of—”

“No!” Atsumu smacked his twin upside the head (“Ow,” he said, but it was clear from the look on his face that it had been worth it) just as Koi had rearranged herself and bounced back swinging at them. Osamu expertly moved himself and his brother away, Tooru lingering back simply amazed that they still had full capacity to both joke around and defend themselves.

He couldn’t be so light-hearted. He sized Koi up, studied how far she was from tipping to the edge. It wasn’t going to be an easy fight. “How likely is it that we’ll get her to fall just by fighting her off like we did earlier?” he asked anybody within earshot as the rest of the assembly came filing in, Hanamaki already shooting arrows.

"’We’, huh?" was the answer that came, and Tooru looked up to see Iwaizumi, his frown dangerous and grim and halfway through a scowl. He grabbed Tooru’s sleeve immediately after, hauled him off to the side as quickly as he would have moved had he pounced instead.

"Didn’t I tell you to stay back?" he demanded. "Didn’t Matsukawa tell you to stay back? What the fuck were you doing out there running at top speed right into a ravine?"

"Don’t say it like I fell on purpose! Riku ran off and you put me in charge of him, so I had to go and get him!"

"We put you in charge of him so you could stay out of everything else!"

"Yeah well, thanks, _mom_ , but you can’t get me to stay out of it forever." Tooru wasn’t dissuaded by the twitch of Iwaizumi’s eye. He watched the rest of the assembly not currently participating in this unnecessary lecture and already launching themselves at Koi, trying to get her to draw back but without much luck. "We don’t know where Riku took the bomb and we need all the hands we can get."

"Oh, and I guess you’re going to make a really significant contribution while leaning against a tree to keep yourself standing, huh?"

Tooru looked to his hand, flat against tree bark and supporting his entire weight. He hadn’t even noticed it move there. Something throbbed once from inside his head, but he only straightened up. "I know I can help."

"I know you can too," Iwaizumi said, "but damn it, Oikawa, take care of yourself a little more, why don’t you? There are other ways for you to help than joining in that mess over there." As if to illustrate the chaos, one of Koi’s legs collided with Aran and sent him flying. "You’re always the one saying that Slaying just isn’t about brute force. Channel your inner Kunimi. Come up with something smart and low effort."

His inner Kunimi wasn’t exactly a full-blown Kunimi, because although he valued his own brand of strategic fighting he would never be as lazy, but still, he stopped. Watched. No one was getting anywhere simply attacking the parts of Koi they could reach and the parts that mattered were virtually impossible to get to, her eyes and mouth both too high up and well-protected by the sheer size of her legs.

But she had another mouth, Tooru remembered. And he’d managed to get to it and open it only minutes ago. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to do it again.

But opening it wasn’t enough. He looked around and eventually found Tobio, wielding that odd flaming chainsaw of his and attempting to grill a leg with it. But the few strikes he did manage to land on Koi’s erratically moving legs weren’t powerful enough to make a difference, and Koi didn’t appear to be flammable.

Or at least, her extremities weren’t.

Decided and determined, Tooru snatched the heavy hammer in Iwaizumi’s grasp and jogged a few steps back for a run-up, disregarding all protest. "Tobio!" he called instead.

Tobio heard him immediately.

He didn’t say anything else, knowing full well that Tobio would watch him regardless, and instead broke into a run and then slid onto his knees underneath a rampaging leg, swung the warhammer up as efficiently as he could and felt the metal crash against the equally tough covering of Koi’s hidden mouth.

He slid out through another side, screamed, "Go!" without really looking, felt only slightly apprehensive that he’d given Tobio a task unaccompanied by verbal instruction and probably only a good few seconds to get it done without getting crushed.

But he wasn’t disappointed. The moment he did turn to look, he was greeted by the sight of Tobio following his example, swiftly sliding underneath the monstrous body and holding up his weapon, and then just as swiftly sliding out in time for Koi to scream and stumble and falter backwards in a way she’d never done before.

Tobio got up and scrambled to meet Tooru’s eyes for approval. Tooru gave him a smile and a thumbs-up.

"Whoa," Osamu said, Atsumu saying something similar from above him. "How did you do that? What’s under there?"

"Another mouth," Tooru told the two of them. "I tried stabbing it earlier and it’s just as hard as the rest of her, but then it opened and it has a gazillion teeth, but still, a mouth."

"Do you think we’ll able to keep doing that?" Kita asked from a few feet away, using the short idle time to load up his gun.

"Only a couple of times, maybe," Tooru said. "When I tried it at first, she nearly trapped me and crushed me underneath her."

Kita studied Koi, bearings already set straight, counterattack started and tougher than ever. She was closer to the edge now than earlier, the rest of their odd group barring all of her chances to move any further. "It’ll do," he said, and then whistled, spoke in a loud voice about a new plan.

Tooru didn’t bother listening. It was only a slight effort on his part but he was beginning to acknowledge that Iwaizumi and everyone’s insistence on keeping him away wasn’t at all misplaced. He’d used both his hands to slam that hammer against Koi’s underside and now the injured one stung terribly, fingers twitching, and his little slide left his head feeling light. He considered stepping aside, taking a break or maybe focusing on finding Riku instead, but his body refused him, knew it could take more, was conditioned to give up on a fight only when he was at his dying breath.

He thrust the warhammer against Iwaizumi’s stomach and brought out his knife. Iwaizumi didn’t say anything. He only took his weapon back and charged into the clash alongside Tooru, a little more confident than before.

The entire thing still felt one-sided. There were over a dozen of them and somehow, the thick coating of Koi’s skin was still enough to reduce their efforts to nothingness and the accomplished Slayer’s spirit inside Tooru could be nothing but humiliated. But every so often, someone in the group would find an opening (first, it had been Kita; then Matsukawa had followed; then Suna, then—), rush onto their knees, and bang on Koi’s sealed mouth as vigorously as they could; and then someone else would lurch forward without invitation (first, it had been Hanamaki, with his crossbow; then Riseki had followed with his gun; then Tobio again with his chainsaw, then—) and finish the job.

And for a good while, Koi’s shriek would reach the high heavens, push them all down but only for a short time before they would violently usher her, in her frazzled state, closer to the drop going unnoticed—and it was unbelievable. There were representatives from three different and very proud alliances fighting but the spontaneity changed nothing, and the movements were harmonious.

But more importantly, they were effective. Koi was big and at first glance indomitable, but she really wasn’t. She wasn’t, and the moment that that truly sank in, one of Tooru’s feet froze after its step and the rest of him watched as Yuuto delivered a kick to a supposedly-desensitized leg, watched as two stepped back into nothingness, and watched as several others came forward and pushed, until the off-balance Koi was losing her footing and losing her place on the surface.

They’d done it.

Tooru felt his breath spike, felt a surge of joy well up inside him—

—and then abruptly, a torrent of dread as Riku emerged from above, fur fluttering in the wind and catching the afternoon sun, flew and landed one of Koi’s legs, the cube sitting sloppily amongst his teeth.

The others saw it just as he did, and for most of them, the immediate reaction was to run. A powerful bomb was about to go off after all and it didn’t matter that it was about to sink into the void; none of them knew how great the explosion would be and it would be a mistake to stay and find out.

But Tooru couldn’t move. He could hear them all running, felt an arm or two brush against his in their haste, heard Atsumu’s distant yelling for him to get the fuck out, thoughtful enough to remember him even as his makeshift steed fled for the hills, but he felt frozen, and all of it felt slow. Like a clip of Riku nudging Koi further, roughly pressing the cube against her flesh was playing out before him frame by frame in a theatre he wasn’t allowed to leave.

And Tobio was beside him, feeling the exact same weight keeping in him seat, watching the exact same film of Riku and Koi. Wearing a face that made Tooru think for a moment that he was going to run and let himself fall along with them.

He didn’t. He took a sharp breath, the sound augmented in Tooru’s ears, and then he was roughly grabbing Tooru by the arm and breaking into a run. Tooru didn’t turn around and things were still in slow motion along with the echoes of Atsumu’s voice in answer to Mattsun’s question _—_

_(“If it’s to keep everyone safe, then she—she has to go.”)_

—until they weren’t anymore and Tooru was gritting his teeth, whirling around, and lacing his fingers around Tobio’s as the two of them ran together, full speed, no looking back. His head hurt and perhaps it was still from his injuries, perhaps not, but he carried on even when he wasn’t sure how far they’d gone, how far they were supposed to go, finding comfort in how tightly Tobio’s hand was squeezing his.

And there came one last _boom_ , the loudest one yet, resounding from afar but bringing a storm of wind and smoke and rock rushing towards them, shaking the ground a final time and leaving Tooru and Tobio crashing down onto it. Tooru pulled Tobio’s fallen form closer to him, kept Tobio’s head underneath his and let his own act as a shield for the both of them, finding comfort in how Tobio blindly searched and then kept a hand over it, fingers weaved through Tooru’s hair.

They stayed like that until the noises of the howling wind of impact died down, Tooru’s face very nearly buried into the back of Tobio’s head. He only bothered to get up when the latter twitched beneath him, and he held a curled fist in front of his mouth to mask his coughing as he rolled onto his back, let his already aching skull touch the hard floor once more.

Tobio propped himself up with his elbows but not much else, his face covered in dirt and looking more forlorn than Tooru had ever seen it.

He let out a weary breath. “That sucked.”

Tooru let his arm rest above his eyes, his sleeve warming up instantly. “Yeah.”

There was only silence for a good while, until Tooru heard Tobio shifting, grunting as he dropped himself into a similar position.

“At least Riku died a hero,” he said after a while.

It wasn’t much of a consolation. Tooru frowned. “I wish he didn’t die at all.”

And then there was a bark.

Suddenly filled to the brim with energy he swore he no longer had, Tooru’s entire being convulsed and he was sitting upright, Tobio doing the same beside him, and watching as the absolutely butchered landscape before them, devoid of life, became full of it the moment a dog with mussed-up, dirty fur and a slight limp appeared right in the center, trotting towards them like there was nothing else he would rather be doing.

His heart swelling and threatening to burst inside his chest, Tooru took a breath. “Riku!”

The call only seemed to excite him more, and even with his problem leg, Riku bounded up to them, mouth open and tongue lolling out as if it was his own version of an exuberant grin when he wasn’t loudly and spiritedly barking. Tooru couldn’t help the fond laugh that escaped his lips, let alone his smile when Tobio and his dumbfounded face shakily stood and opened his arms, only for his entirety to fall back down the minute Riku launched himself at him.

“Whoa! He survived!” Tooru heard Hanamaki say a little ways up ahead.

“That’s one hell of a dog,” Matsukawa remarked.

“Didn’t they just find him yesterday?” Iwaizumi asked, but whatever answers he’d gotten, Tooru wasn’t interested in finding out. He was breathing hard even only while sitting down but he ignored that too, cheeks hurting from watching Riku ceaselessly lick Tobio’s face, Tobio himself unsure whether to feel disgust or endearment and simply deciding to screw his eyes shut and wrinkle his nose and curl his lips into an awkward smile as his skin gathered slobber.

Tooru’s own skin was burning up but he didn’t take his eyes off the sight and he wouldn’t for a long time. Tobio eventually managed to coax Riku’s head away enough for him to sit up, saying something Tooru could only vaguely make out from the drumming noises in his ears, gaily ruffled up the fur sitting on top, smiled down at Riku like he was the world’s greatest treasure.

And then he was directing that smile at Tooru.

He was saying something. Tobio’s lips, corners turned up, were moving and making words, but all Tooru could stare at were his eyes. They were shrinking ever so slightly but they seemed bigger than Tooru had ever seen them in the last few hours. The blue in them was no longer as pale as they had been when Tooru’d first locked onto them after having ripped off his ugly mask. In them, he could see joy, fondness, a shimmer he’d thought he’d eradicated years ago. They were shining again. Shining bright, too bright, almost like...like…

Diamonds.

They were the last thing Tooru saw as his body finally surrendered to his fatigue and the damn fever, and the entire forest turned into black.

 

Tooru was brought to a hospital after that, along with the other injured, of course—or so Iwaizumi had told him, and he honestly wouldn’t have found out otherwise, apparently having been asleep for nearly two days straight. His hand and head felt loads better when he’d returned to consciousness, though he was going to have to take extra care for the next few days so as to not further disturb anything. Hanamaki had so helpfully reminded him of his Kill Ban then, and Tooru groaned at the recollection.

Still, a real, actual break would probably be nice.

If he actually got it. His next few hours after waking were spent getting hounded by Inarizaki, mostly Miya Atsumu, recovered and sane and back to being the annoying prat that he was, though he did have a back brace. Tooru had threatened to call the cops on him if he didn’t leave the room but he’d announced that they’d already turned themselves in, explained the situation as best they could, and were going to be spending the next few months assisting in the rehabilitation of the forest both Koi and the bomb that ended her destroyed.

(Atsumu himself was getting weeks extra of community service, for ‘being an idiot’, Osamu had said, and Matsukawa had finally gotten the chance to corner him about his decisions to buy from illegal vendors. They’d gone at it for half an hour until Makki and Iwaizumi finally brought up the time that Mattsun had engaged in a similar trade, finally shutting him up.)

Now it was hours after that, and Tooru was getting a taste of silence for the first time in for-fucking-ever. The hospital room wasn’t too shabby and the temperature was just right, conducive to his recovery and his well-deserved beauty sleep, and he felt better than he had in days.

There were still some other visitors he was expecting, though. He glanced at Iwaizumi sitting in the corner of the room with a magazine. “Hey, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi looked up.

“Where’s, uh—where’s Riku?”

“You mean, where’s Kageyama?”

“No, I mean Riku, as in my precious dog who is not Tobio, thank you very much.”

Shaking his head, Iwaizumi let out a one-syllable laugh. “Can’t just admit you’re looking for both of them, you pathetic pretentious shit?”

“I’m not—” Tooru tried his hand at a pout, but they never really worked on Iwaizumi. He threw his hands in the air and let them fall back down to the bed, defeated. “Could you just tell me where they are?”

“They’re down there.”

“ _What?”_ Tooru cried, following the direction of the jerk of Iwaizumi’s head to the bottom of his bed along the left, and sure enough, there on a futon was Tobio, lying straight on his back with his mouth opened and Riku curled up on top of him with a casted leg. “Wha—how long have they been there?”

“They haven’t been sleeping there for two days straight, if that’s what you’re worried about. Kageyama was patched up pretty quickly and they tried to give him his own resting room, but he said he wanted to bunk down here. He pretty much collapsed for twenty hours. He got up just a little earlier to go get Riku from the veterinary ward and then he just went straight back here and they both passed out.”

Tooru made a face, directed it at the buffoon sleeping soundly on the floor. He was in fresh clothes and covered in clean bandages of all kinds, but a thin strand of drool was halfway through a journey to his chin. He pretended it made him squeamish, turned to Iwaizumi again. “Both of them slept through Inarizaki raiding my room?” he asked.

“Yep. Pretty amazing, if you ask me.”

Right, Tooru thought, looking down at them again. Tobio hadn’t gotten any sleep at all over the course of that entire shit show and he’d been fighting off groups of people for half that time. His black eye was gradually healing but there were shadows even under his uninjured one and his hair was a mess, probably because he was too tired to bother to comb it once he rolled out of his futon.

He was incredible, Tooru thought further, and his own admission seemed to warm his heart. He was so incredible and it _was_ amazing but also kind of annoying so he grabbed his blanket and dangled it right above Tobio’s face, one of the corners lightly brushing right by his nose.

In no time at all, Tobio’s hand was flying up to smack his own face, and just like that both he and Riku were awake with one mildly inconvenienced groan.

Tooru smiled but killed it quickly, and Tobio looked like smiling was the last thing he could possibly do. He squinted up at the light and gawked absently up for a few moments before blinking himself into coherence. He glanced at the blanket made tickle feather. “The hell are you doing?” he asked in what Tooru supposed was his morning voice. Awful. Truly it was. Tooru totally didn’t want to hear it on the regular right and right before breakfast.

“This is a private room, sir, no squatters allowed.”

Iwaizumi snorted from afar. “Asshole.”

Riku barked.

“He agrees with Iwaizumi-san.”

“He does not! He’s defending my honour!”

“I forget that you talk like this on regular days,” Tobio said absently, carefully placing Riku on his thighs so he could sit up and rub his good eye.

“Lucky you,” Iwaizumi said.

“You two get along too well for anyone’s sake.”

“The effort to get on your nerves forges friendships and unites the people.”

From below, Tooru heard Tobio laugh through his nose, and he scowled. “Oh my god!” he cried, crossing his arms. “You’re seriously ganging up on me, newly-awoken from a slumber in which nobody was sure I would wake up? You two are heartless and you’re no longer welcome in my beautiful hospital room.”

Tobio scooped their dog up in his arms. “Okay. Riku, let’s go.”

“No! Riku’s still welcome. He’s staying here with me.”

Tooru’s arms reaching out for Riku stiffened, slowly lowered, and for a while the only sound in the room was the buzz of the air conditioning and Riku himself, barking at random intervals as if the quiet was physically hurting him. Even after all that, hours of toil and danger and life-changing mishaps, they didn’t know anything about Riku. Who owned him, how he got to the forest, how he seemed to be the smartest and luckiest dog in the world.

Tooru wanted to find out, gradually, through experience, over time. But he didn’t know whether Riku was even his to keep.

“Speaking of that,” Iwaizumi began, rapidly flipping the magazine pages only to shut the thing altogether, “what do you plan to do with the dog?”

Toying with his own thumb on his lap, Tooru looked at Tobio, but he didn’t seem like he had a concrete answer to the question either. The right thing to do, probably, was to bring him to authorities, parade him off as a lost dog and help him find his owner, give him away if he had one. But that was easier said than done, so much that even Tobio who hadn’t even been happy to see him at first couldn’t quite look like he grasped the concept either.

Fortunately, they’d be able to put the decision off for a little while longer. Three rather happy knocks resounded from the hospital room door and then it was swinging open, revealing a bright-looking Yahaba and an even brighter-looking young boy with his hair styled almost exactly like Tooru’s.

“Guess who wanted to come see you?” Yahaba said as they filed into the room.

“Aww,” Tooru cooed, “hi, Yuu!”

“Hi, Tooru-san!”

“Wait, what?” Tobio on the floor lifted Riku like he would a baby so he could get on his knees and see beyond the cover of the bed. He looked absolutely scandalized. “Yuu exists?”

The expression quickly took over Iwaizumi’s and Yahaba’s faces as well, Yuu’s turning more confused than anything, and Tooru had to bite back a laugh. “Well, yeah,” he told Tobio, who glared at him, “ _duh._ What did you think? That I made him up?”

“Shut the—” Tobio stopped midway through punching Tooru in the knee, glanced at the eight-year old present at the scene “—frick—” And Tooru smiled “—up!”

And much to Tooru’s chagrin or amusement or both, he got to his feet, Riku still in his arms, and crouched in front of Yuu so they could see eye to eye. The three outside parties stared at him curiously. “Hi, um,” he said, “are you doing okay? How’s your fever?”

Tooru was dying. He slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from yelling.

“Wha—what?” Yuu stammered, wearing a crooked and mildly terrified grin.

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi said, his tone accusatory already even if he hadn’t been fed any of the actual information.

“What? Why me?” Tooru asked from behind his hand.

“I don’t know; why don’t you ask that stupid grin on your face?”

“Ah!” Yuu cried, staring wide-eyed at Riku about at level with his stomach. “It’s you! Where did you manage to find him, Tobio-san?”

“Wait, you know me?”

“Yeah! Tooru-san talks about you all the—”

“WHOA, whoa, whoa, don’t change the topic!” Tooru quickly said, frantically waving his hands and wholeheartedly keeping his gaze far away from his allies’ individual shit-eating grins. He met the child’s eyes instead. “Yuu, do you know this dog?”

“Sort of. I was at the shelter a few days ago because my mom’s letting me adopt a dog for my birthday, and I was planning to get him, but all of a sudden, he started barking and then he ran off. The people at the shelter tried chasing after him but he was really fast and they lost him.”

Riku barked, maybe to confirm the tale, maybe not, and honestly, Tooru’s mind was too blank to determine. He stared at the dog, wrapped inside Tobio’s embrace like he belonged there. They’d found their answer—Riku was inevitably Yuu’s, a gift to him for his birthday—and he knew he should be happy, that at the very least Riku was going to stay within close proximity and under someone Tooru was sure would take care of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to be.

One look at the side of Tobio’s face told him that they shared the same feelings. But they were adults. Slayers, even. They didn’t deal with things like feelings. They killed for sport and found achievement in wounds and bruises, comfort in deadly weapons. Of course, they could easily let something like this go.

Tooru took a breath and prepared to. “Oh. Well, it’s good that he’s found a home. Congratulations on getting a dog for your birthday!”

“Thanks! But...actually, I already adopted someone else.”

If human ears could perk up, Tooru’s would have.

“I was supposed to get him, but then nobody got to catch him, so mom said that I should just pick someone else. And I don’t think she’s gonna let me have two dogs at once yet, so I guess it’s back to the shelter for this little guy.”

“I want him,” Tobio and Tooru said at the same time, turned to glare at each other at the same time.

“You wanted to leave him behind at first!” Tooru said. “No way you’re gonna be a good enough owner for him.”

“You say that like I wasn’t saving him from death and Inarizaki for twenty-four hours straight,” Tobio countered.

“Excuse me, I was the one who saved you from Inarizaki that first time. You were sitting on a ledge like an idiot and you were totally about to get creamed!”

“We spent more time together!”

“We slept beside each other!”

“He likes me better!”

“ _Take that back.”_

“Uhh,” Yuu cut in, lightly scratching at his face with his finger, eyes blinking innocently at the two of them, “couldn’t you just get him together?”

Tooru frowned. “What, like joint custody? How are we going to manage where he stays and things?”

“He’ll stay at—aren’t you two married?”

“ _WHAT?”_ all four of the self-proclaimed adults, tough-as-nails Slayers in the room cried in an effort to verbalize their sudden, simultaneous heart attacks. Yahaba set a hand over his chest but quickly transferred it atop his mouth, underneath his crinkling eyes, while Yuu flinched and stumbled a few steps back right as Iwaizumi saved himself from falling off his chair.

“Sorry! I thought you were,” Yuu said, flashing an apologetic smile. “You look good together, though.”

Tooru could feel his fever coming back. He concealed his face behind both of his hands. “Yuu, oh my god.”

Through the tiny gaps between his fingers, Tooru managed to peek at Tobio by the edge of his bed, still crouched and very visibly hiding his face behind the mess of Riku’s fur and yet fooling absolutely no one. The tips of his ears were red again, and this time, he hadn’t just pulled Tooru up from a cliffside with a single arm, so there were two logical causes: dire embarrassment, or...something a little more interesting.

Something that warmed Tooru’s own ears in addition to his face and made his heart beat against his chest like it was demanding release.

“Well,” Iwaizumi, obviously recovered from the theoretical bomb that Yuu had just dropped inside the room, said. He stood up and jammed a single hand in his pocket, placed the other on top of Yuu’s head and then behind it. “We should probably leave the two of them alone to work out their child custody issues.”

“Iwa-chan, don’t you dare,” Tooru warned, still wearing his mask of hands.

“No, it’s okay. Yuu can visit some other time, right, Yuu?”

“Yeah! Next time I’ll bring my new dog too. I named him Ai. Maybe he can become friends with your dog,” Yuu said, beaming.

The kid was far too pure to argue with, even if Tooru did kind of feel like pulling out all of Iwaizumi’s unstylish hair at the moment, and so he only let out a controlled, completely calm no doubt about that, breath. “Okay,” he said as kindly as he could. “See you whenever you’re free. Thanks for coming today. You too, Yahaba-chan.”

“Sure, Oikawa-san,” Yahaba said. His cheeky grin was so painfully clear it made Tooru feel stabbed in the back. “I believe in you!”

Tooru responded with a sarcastic giggle. “Don’t fall into a manhole on the way home, the both of you! Really, don’t!”

They only seemed happier as they left the room with a cheerfully-waving Yuu.

Good riddance, he thought as the door closed, until he realized that now he was all alone with Tobio the uncharacteristically silent, red-eared buffoon and suddenly the riddance wasn’t so good. It couldn’t be timed any worse, in fact, and his bastard allies had totally done it on purpose. He wondered which one of them would come after his ass first if he abandoned them.

 _Work out your child custody issues_ , Iwaizumi the cruel had said, but the phrase alone sounded horrible to the ears and made them seem like a pair of divorced parents, and simply put—no. Just no. Fuck Iwaizumi and everything he had insinuated since they first met in the forest, including and especially what he’d said about Tooru being in the middle of a ridiculously long crush. Fuck that.

But speaking of that.

Wait, no. No. Tooru did not have a crush on Tobio. No. He didn’t have a reason to. Since they’d met he’d been nothing but a pest, an insect that buzzed around him all the time and begged to be taught things he wasn’t willing to teach. They were ultimate rivals from start to finish and nothing more. Tobio’s life mission was to kill him and Tooru’s was to make his life a living hell, and nothing more.

Or so he told himself, but he couldn’t stop himself doubting, couldn’t stop his the odd tingling on his warm skin, couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Tobio, sitting at the edge of the bed, obviously sneaking glances at him. He was idly stroking Riku’s head, still uselessly trying to hide the red patches on his face. Tooru stared at them. The colour was beautiful partnered with that of Tobio’s cheeks, and even with Riku’s barking, even with the constant nagging of _he’s gonna see you looking at him, shield your eyes, you moron_ , he couldn’t bring himself to look away.

Just like the nagging had told him, it didn’t take long for Tobio to realize that he was being scrutinized, and he looked down at Riku for only a brief moment (and the dog gave a supportive yip) before slowly turning his head to meet Tooru’s eyes, his just as slowly blinking and looking at Tooru with a sort of meekness no one had ever expected of him.

God damn it, that was too pretty to be legal.

"Um," he said, breaking the lock of their gazes every once in a while to glance at Riku,who was almost grinning up at him. "Is—is that allowed? The, um, the—like, two people owning the same dog even though they don’t live together?"

Tooru shrugged, and that was him being honest. If it really were allowed, then whoever had done it probably had been something like a separated married couple, neither willing to permanently lose their child, and though he badly wanted to take Riku home with him, he couldn’t imagine himself filling half of that incredibly awkward role.

There was another solution, of course, but he wanted to slap himself for even considering it. He and Tobio weren’t anything yet; they couldn’t just up and live together. And anyway, Tooru wasn’t interested. He wasn’t.

Wait, did he just say _yet?_ _The fuck do you mean_ yet _you absolute tool, are you still delusional—_

"Oh," Tobio spoke up again, interrupting his would-be string of insults, "uh, I didn’t get to say this earlier since you passed out right after Riku came back, but he got to climb a tree. He climbed a tree before Koi could find him and waited there until she fell over. I’m not sure how he survived the bomb either. I wish he could tell us. And Atsumu-san said that he heard Riku barking at him from inside the shelter right after he stole the bomb, so that means that the minute he got let out, he chased after them right away. I guess he sensed that something bad happened."

Tooru was beyond amazed at the information, grinned, prepared to give the incredible Riku the snuggle of a lifetime, but Tobio wasn’t done.

"Other than that, though," he said, "thank you. For your help, I mean. We wouldn’t have gotten out of there alive without you."

And, amazement neglected, Tooru frowned, remembering how he’d left Tobio awake alone at night for his own rest, how he’d left Tobio to do all the dirty work while he only fired a gun, how he’d so pathetically fallen off a cliff only for Tobio to save him the end. "Are you serious right now?" he demanded. "Shouldn’t I be telling you that?"

"You can tell it to me too," Tobio replied, "but that doesn’t mean it can’t be true for you at the same time."

There he was again, there he went again. Always giving him credit he didn’t deserve, always polishing that damn pedestal that only he seemed to keep relevant anymore. "Why—" Tooru swallowed, tried not to choke on his own words. "Why are you like this?"

Tobio looked up at him. "Huh?"

"Since training, you’ve always—you’re always—you—" Tooru bit his lip, closed his eyes, saw another image of a tiny Tobio staring at him with those sparkling eyes. " _’Oikawa-san, you were amazing. Oikawa-san, that was so cool, could you teach me? Oikawa-san, thank you, we would’ve died without you’_ —even if I completely fuck up. Where do you get all that respect from, even after all I’ve done?"

The last bit had slipped out without warning, but he could no longer take it back. Tobio was staring at him, digesting every single word as dutifully as he probably did the first bite of food he’d taken once they’d left the forest. And when he finished, his face reeked of even more sincerity than before.

"You really are amazing," he said, "but—I mean—I never said you weren’t an asshole."

Tooru’s soul collapsed without his body and somehow sank beneath his hospital bed, but his lips were curling without his consent. That was quite possibly the best answer he could’ve hoped to get. "Well. Thanks," he replied, and Tobio seemed fully content with that too, sarcasm and all.

"Sure. You apologized anyway, so it’s all good."

Just like that, Tooru’s smile died. "What?"

Tobio tensed, and then he was biting his lip and turning away.

"Tobio, what?"

"Nothing. It’s nothing, never mind."

"When did I apologize?"

"You didn’t; I was joking."

"Don’t pretend you know how to make jokes. When did I apologize?"

His frown was deep, and whether it was because Tooru called him out for his lack of jokes or something else was unknown. He scratched his head, offered a small smile in response to Riku’s supportive bark, but continued frowning in Tooru’s direction.

"The night you got your fever," he began, and Tooru’s body grew cold, "you were talking to Riku before you could drift off to sleep. Mostly it was about me and, um. My eyes."

Tooru could only listen in horror.

"At first you were just talking about me in Novice training. You might have fallen asleep after that, I’m not sure, but you kept talking even after, and you said...you said that it’s your fault? That my eyes changed or something?" Oh, fuck. "I don’t know what it means either. Maybe you were dreaming."

He stopped talking, and Tooru hoped that it meant his sleepy incoherent babbling had stopped there. But of course it hadn’t.

"And then you started saying stuff like...you were afraid of me, and you started picking on me so you could know how it feels like to be the bigger person for once. And that you hated how I never fought back but also that...you were sorry."

Tooru could feel the backs of his eyes burning. With disbelief, with shame, with an uncalled for sadness. It was everything he’d ever kept secret in the years that he and Tobio hadn’t seen each other so there was no way Tobio could be making any of it up, and he’d divulged all of it in his fever sleep. All of it, just like that, straight into Tobio’s ears. What kind of idiot did that?

"Don’t," Tooru said, lifting his hand the moment Tobio opened his mouth to speak, "ask me if any of it was true. Make yourself useful and tell me what other bullshit I said."

Tobio fell silent for a while. "Well, um, the rest was pretty chopped up and I can’t remember most of it but I do remember that you—you said…"

And then he was shrinking into himself, turning even redder than he had been when Yuu had assumed they were married. "You said that you think I’m cute—" _Fuck_ "—and that...that…"

This was killing Tooru more brutally than Koi ever could. "Spit it out!”

"—that you like me."

Tooru wished he hadn’t spat it out.

The only sound in the room now was the rumble of the air conditioner, but Tooru couldn’t hear even that. In fact, he couldn’t really hear anything. His brain was trying too hard to comprehend the second half of Tobio’s murderous sentence that it forgot it was supposed to control other senses at the same time. His pulse was otherworldly but he couldn’t feel it pounding. Blood was rushing to his face but he couldn’t feel the warmth. His fingers were clutching his blanket too tightly but he couldn’t feel the strain, couldn’t see it happening.

He only saw Tobio, completely still while Riku rubbed noses with him as some kind of consolation, maybe; only saw how he shyly met Tooru’s frozen, glassy eyes once again, only heard his few, soft words. "Can—can I know if _that’s_ true?”

Maybe he could, but Tooru wasn’t sure he had any truth to give. He’d been iffy the moment his kind and compassionate friends had brought it up and even now that it was hurled at his face, he could feel nothing but confused. He didn’t think he’d ever had a crush before and by the time he pointed it out to himself, he figured he was too old to start. He didn’t think his interactions with Tobio were anything particular special either. Sure, the way Tooru spoke to him was a little different from the way he spoke to others, but that couldn’t be the only indicator, right?

It wasn’t, he realized. But what was, was probably that odd, excited feeling he could never explain whenever he saw Tobio, whether at training or on TV impressing a crowd or just on the street when he was alone. It was years and years of watching from a distance, careful observations of his movements both during and outside of a fight. It was the feeling of annoyance but also pleasure whenever he approached with his starry eyes and stiff posture, the both of them parting ways frustrated but always coming back for more. It was getting struck by his features everytime they came into view, struck like lightning by those eyes and the sharpness of his face and the intensity of his expression. It was hyperfocusing on him when he was around despite every other thing there was to look at. It was never forgetting him, giving him a constant place inside the mind that couldn’t be destroyed even by years and years of separation.

It was all of these, at the same time, banding together and forming something that—in layman’s terms—would be a crush. And one several years in the making.

Tooru wanted to slap himself.

He didn’t. Instead, he held his head high, laid a little more comfortably in bed, and closed his eyes. “Nope. The sick needs rest. Visiting hours are over.”

“Oikawa-san.”

“No, no, no. You’re not getting anything out of me. I’ve lived a life that’s good and pure—”

“What?”

“ _I’ve lived a life that’s good and pure_ and the past couple of days have been very rough, and I don’t deserve any insults to add to my injuries, especially ones coming from you.”

“What insults am I even gonna give?”

“Who knows with you? I just know it’s gonna come, and when it does, my life support will fail and I’m going to flatline—”

“You’re not connected to a heart monitor—”

“—and I’m going to die of embarrassment, okay, I’m already kind of dying now so if you could just _leave me in peace_ to my internal and external wounds, that would be great.” Tooru hid his face behind his hands, closed his eyes underneath them. Maybe if he didn’t look for long enough, Tobio would magically disappear.

But the cover of his eyelids wasn’t enough to shield him from feeling Tobio’s light shift on his bed. “So...does this mean it’s true?”

That he had a crush on somebody who blatantly ignored everything he said was unfortunate. Tooru let out an exasperated, shamed breath, covered his eyes with a single hand so he could bring the other to the nurse call button. “I’m reporting you for harassment,” he said.

“That’s a yes, then.”

Tooru groaned and abruptly sat upright, however woozy it made him. “You’re the fucking worst. It’s like—you feed on my misery. That’s what you do. You listen to me say embarrassing shit and yet somehow you don’t understand the _embarrassing_ part and you—”

“Don’t you remember what I said the last time you thought I didn’t hear the embarrassing shit you said?”

He didn’t, but chills crawled through Tooru’s skin anyway, at the casual tone of Tobio’s voice. His skin was still pink, both of theirs were, probably, but Tobio didn’t look as nervous as Tooru felt. He bravely met Tooru’s eyes, never left them.

He looked resolved, really resolved, as he quoted himself from a few days ago:

“I feel the same about you.”

And Tooru was both choking on air and floating on it.

That image of a younger Tobio danced around in his mind again, Tobio following him wherever he went, throwing compliments left and right, and Tooru had too easily internalized the idea that it had all been an act of deceit to even consider that maybe it was out of pure admiration. And then the image was replaced by one of the Tobio from two days ago, rescuing him and Riku whenever he could, and it hadn’t occurred to him that maybe it was out of concern, that maybe Tobio cared about him even though he didn’t look like he cared for anything.

It made Tooru feel like he could fly, like he could somersault out of bed right now, a hundred percent recovered and back on his feet, and return to Shiratorizawa’s pub and knock someone’s head clean off with a single punch. It made him feel _happy._

So happy he couldn’t think to smile, couldn’t think of a reply other than, “You feel the same about me but you’ve wanted to kill me since you were twelve?”

Tobio’s composure cracked. He squeezed Riku (who had fallen asleep again, Tooru realized) tighter in his arms, knitted his eyebrows and sucked in a sharp breath, face looking sour and redder than ever. “Shut up!” he cried. “It’s—it’s complicated, okay? You have a higher rank than me and you’ve always been my goal; I need to get better than you and there was no other way to test that besides killing you, but at the same time—”

He finally paused for a breath, directed his gaze at everything but Tooru. “It was—it was really good to see you again. And to talk to you like normal, even if I threatened you a lot and you tried to sell me off to Shiratorizawa. And it was really nice...to see sides of you I never got to before. And…”

It was his turn to cover his face now. “Having a dog with you...sounds like fun.”

The declaration was a powerful squeeze to Tooru’s heart, but this time, he found it in him to smile. Decade-long crush or not, seeing Tobio so flustered seemed to be where all his energy sprung from, and he let his teeth show, let his arm fly forward so his knuckles could punch Tobio in the side. “Well, well,” he said, making it a point to sound cocky to mask the fact that _that was so sweet, oh my god,_ “aren’t _you_ moving a little fast?”

Tobio appeared to have sped past the first four stages of grief. He shoved Tooru right back. “Shut—shut up! After we get all this Riku stuff figured out and you get out of the hospital, I’m practicing on you again!”

“Hmm, are you sure about that? Will your heart, that’s swelling with love for me, be able to take seeing me in pain ever again?”

“I’m gonna choke you right now and you’ll find out.”

“Kinky!”

“ _I hate you.”_

The exclamation was enough to rouse Riku once more and have him barking as if to ask what he’d missed while he was out, and Tobio was red as a beet but it had him smiling. He set Riku down on the bed and the both of them practically lunged for Tooru, Tobio a little less enthusiastically and only to give Tooru’s foul mouth a little shove that it probably deserved.

But Riku wasn’t the only one Tooru wanted on his lap. He grabbed the hand that crashed against his chin and used it to pull Tobio closer until they were nearly face-to-face, Tooru getting a better view of those dumb, sparkly eyes he’d never once forgotten. He inhaled, rested a hand against Tobio’s blushing and soft cheek, moved his head and felt Tobio’s head move forward at the same time and felt their lips meet halfway.

Riku let out a celebratory howl that cut the cause for celebration far too short, but Tooru snorted a laugh as he pulled away anyway, smile broadening the moment he saw the small one on Tobio’s face.

“Does this mean you finally like me enough to teach me the Uchi Mata?”

Tooru blinked, and then broke into a fit of laughter that, for once, Tobio getting into some odd accident didn’t induce. “You _do_ know how to make jokes,” he admitted once he finished. “And really, Tobio, at this stage, after all this, I highly doubt that there’s anything left for me to teach you.”

“There’s everything left for you to teach me,” Tobio said, serious all of a sudden. He briefly glanced away and toyed a little with his lips. “Spar with me?”

So much had changed, but really, some things just never did. This Tobio was still as single-minded as he had been when they’d first met, and just like then, Tooru was the one with the mission to try and break that trait.

He crossed his arms. “Only if you go out with me.”

The corner of Tobio’s lips twitched up once—and then some more, up and down and up and down until they finally stayed up in one of the most gorgeous smiles Tooru had ever seen on him. “Sure,” he said, shrugging. “You’re still on Kill Ban for a few weeks anyway.”

That, he was. But as appealing as the thought of Tobio attempting to kill him the moment he was allowed to defend himself again was, it was far more satisfactory to pinch his cheek and pinch Riku’s cheek and tell them they were both adorable little mutts, much more fun to plan their Riku Visiting Schedule and how they could take him to places on the weekends, half a joke but also not. And all that while, it was still so easy for them to get on each other’s nerves, but a little harder to keep from getting flustered, a little harder to come in for a kiss no matter how much they wanted to.

They’d changed, but at the same time, neither of them did. Tobio was still Tooru’s omnivorous once-junior, Tooru was still Tobio’s ultimate obstacle. Their ranks and goals stayed the same, and honestly, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if in a weeks they were once again at each other’s throats, trying to level up and stay alive for no reason other than they could. It could happen just as easily as they could reach over and pet Riku and make faces at him.

Somehow, though, Tooru doubted it. Riku barked, and he barked right back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for anyone interested in some thoughts i have for my own writing: click [here](https://diecrotic.dreamwidth.org/32113.html). 
> 
> but anyways, hoo boi i'm done. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAGEYAMA ILY ANOTHER BIRTHDAY/CHRISTMAS GIFT COMING UP IN A FEW DAYS ROLL UP UR SLEEVES
> 
> || [tumblr](http://kakkoweeb.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/diecrotic) | [writing journal](https://diecrotic.dreamwidth.org/) | [instagram bc why not](https://www.instagram.com/diecrotic/) ||  
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